Hero with the Cracked Helmet
by OneLastBird
Summary: The Universe is ending... again, and Vitruvius has come up with a prophecy to save it... again. Seriously, how many times has this happened already? Anyways, Universe ending, big prophecy, yadda, yadda, this time the survival of everything might just depend on a slightly damaged 1980-Something Space Guy...
1. Chapter 1

Things had been business as usual for a very long time, and President Business couldn't believe how tired he was of it. He swivelled in his chair, reflecting on how strange it was that he was still President even after trying to freeze the Universe.

But that was long behind him. As was the Lord title.

Even the Duplo Wars felt like ages ago.

He swivelled around and around, trying to amuse himself, until finally he lifted his arms to the ceiling and yelled, "Will _something_ please happen already?!"

Suddenly the doors to his office were thrown open and Bad Cop rushed in, followed by three Robot Freds.

"President Business," he barked, "I'm afraid something has happened."

Business grinned and cried, _"Thank you!"_

He leaped out of his chair and followed his subordinates to the main security hub.

"What am I looking at?" One end of his unibrow rose as he stared at a giant blank white screen.

"Nothing sir," piped up one of the Robots.

"You said something happened." He gritted his teeth. "Nothing isn't something."

Bad Cop resisted the urge to smirk as he said, "In this case it might be. That security camera is currently pointed at the south coast of Middle Zealand."

"What? Really?" He turned from the screen with a mix of excitement and concern on his face.

"Yes, sir. And before you ask, it's not something wrong with the camera." Bad Cop pulled out a clip board and looked it over. "We sent out some Robots this morning, and according to their report, _'it's gone. Just... gone,'"_ he said in an imitation Robot voice.

"The camera?"

"Middle Zealand."

Business rubbed his hands together, trying hard not to laugh like the maniacal bad guy he had once been. "I think it's time to gather... The Universe Squad!"

Bad Cop nodded, but then paused. "Is that the name you guys finally agreed on?"

"Uh... no." Business fidgeted. "It's a nickname... just between you and me." He leaned in and whispered,_ "Don't tell the others."_

* * *

After the infamous TAKOS Tuesday, the people of Bricksberg, under Emmet's direction, built a giant statue of Vitruvius in honour of the late wizard, and inside his head was the secret hall of the awesome heroes who kept saving the Universe. It was here that they met to discuss the troubling disappearance of an entire world.

Except that as soon as they were in a room together, the usual argument got started.

"We are not calling ourselves the Universe Squad," growled Batman, who was glaring across the table at President Business. "It's lame."

Business huffed and countered with, "And the Bat Brigade, isn't?"

"Why don't we just call ourselves the Justice League?" offered Lucy.

"Because Superman would throw a conniption."

"Oh yeah... I thought it sounded familiar."

"Yar, I still says we should be called Metalbeard's Crew!"

The only one who wasn't paying attention was Emmet, who was looking around at everyone with a confused frown. Finally he turned to Bad Cop, who was standing by the door, and asked, "Where's Benny?"

For indeed, the blue Space Guy was missing.

Bad Cop shrugged. "He didn't answer our email, so I had some Robots search Space Zone. Couldn't find him."

"That's too bad. He loves these meetings." Emmet watched as Metalbeard threw his coffee mug at Batman, and Unikitty suggested 'Super Sparkle Rainbows' as their team name. "Can't imagine why," he grumbled.

He sighed and tried to get everyone's attention. Shouting and whistling didn't work, so he got up on the table and jumped up and down.

"Jeez guys," he said when they were finally looking at him. "How many years have we been arguing over this?"

They blinked and looked at each other until Business said, "I don't know..."

Emmet rolled his eyes at him. "K. Whatever. You did call us here for a reason right?"

The President opened his mouth to answer, but Unikitty jumped on the table and shouted, "I know! I know! Middle Zealand's gone missing!"

While everyone reacted in shock, Business slumped over and whined, "But that was _my_ news."

"Are you sure, Unikitty?" Said Emmet. He placed a hand on her shoulder.

She nodded gravely. "Yeah. They're right next to Cloud Cuckoo Land, so I can usually see them from the terrace, but this morning the whole world was... gone..." She gasped. "Does this mean my world is next?"

Emmet his other hand on her as she wilted. "Hey, hey, we don't know that."

"Will you two get off the table already?" snapped the President.

They sheepishly did as he asked, and once they returned to their seats, Lucy stood up and said, "So an entire world has disappeared? What does this mean?"

That got everyone talking at once, trying to voice various terrible scenarios over one another.

It was Metalbeard's turn to fight for attention, which is much easier when you're a big, loud, robot-pirate. "Everybody calm yer knickers, this not be the first time this has happened."

"It's not?"

President Business scratched his head. "Yeah, he's right. I think I do remember something like this happening before, but it's all... fuzzy..."

"Aye, long ago the worlds started disappearin' one by one, and then everything went dark."

Unikitty was shaking as she asked, "And what happened?"

"It came back."

"Huh?"

Metalbeard stroked his metal beard. "I don't really know what it was about, but everything came back. We calls it, the Great Dark Age."

Most of them shuddered, but Batman said, "I think I would remember something like that."

"Like I said, this be a long time ago, before you lot were around."

They couldn't argue with that.

Emmet was the only one who didn't look troubled. He smiled. "Wait, this is good right?"

Lucy frowned at him. "The Universe is going to disappear. How is that a good thing?"

"If this happened before, and it turned out alright, we can assume that's what'll happen this time too. Everything's going to be fine."

_"It most certainly will not!"_

They all jumped and Batman whipped out a Batarang. "Who said that?!" he demanded, for it was not one of their voices.

_"I did,_" came the answer. From the ceiling descended a white clad ghost holding a green tipped staff.

Emmet was wide eyed and slack jawed as he said, "Vitruvius..."

_"Hello Emmet, my friends,_" he said in his warm, ghostly voice. _"I'm afraid I have appeared before you to offer a grave warning. Captain Metalbeard is right, the Fourth Great Dark Age is upon you, and it is the final one. When it is over, the Universe is going to be torn apart and will cease to exist."_

They gasped, and Emmet said, "Oh Dang."

But the ghost wasn't done._ "However, do not give into despair, for there is still hope."_

"What do we have to do?" said Lucy.

_"I was getting to that. You must discover the truth of the Original Builder. Find the First Set, for it holds the key."_

"The First Set?" Lucy frowned. "What the heck is a Set?"

Vitruvius was drifting upwards so Emmet jumped back on the table and yelled, "Wait! We don't know what type of Set you're talking about!"

The wizard vanished without answering.

"Perhaps he means a set 'o coins?" offered Metalbeard.

Unikitty bounced around. "Ooh, ooh, or a set of butterflies!"

Emmet jumped down and said, "I think we need to get the other Master Builders in on this."

* * *

The Dog had been rebuilt along with Cloud Cuckoo Land, and even though there was no longer a reason to hide, it was still the accepted meeting place for the Master Builders. They were piling in quickly now. The news had spread of Middle Zealand's disappearance, and they were eager to find out what was happening and what they could do about it.

Emmet was standing near the speaking platform with his friends, so he noticed right away when Benny arrived. He waved him over and said, "Why weren't you at the meeting?"

"I got an email on that Batphone you guys gave me," he answered cheerfully, "but I couldn't figure out how to open it."

"Again?" Emmet scratched his head. "But where were you? Bad Cop said they searched Space Zone, and they couldn't find you."

"Oh..." Benny's smile faltered. "Well I-"

He was cut off as President Business loudly greeted the crowd.

While he spoke, Wonder Woman was trying to ignore the antics of Superman and Green Lantern beside her. She was getting frustrated because lately the big guy seemed to be following her around and always sitting too close to her at meetings. She was also bored with the speech and panic going on around her. The Universe was ending, big prophecy, yadda, yadda... This was pretty much normal to a superhero like her.

I mention this because her bored, wandering eyes spotted something everyone else was too busy to notice.

Benny the Space Guy, who was standing behind his friends, _wasn't smiling._

It was strange to her. She had rarely ever seen him _not_ grinning like a lunatic, but now he was frowning thoughtfully; which made it even stranger.

President Business said, "So, this "Oldest Set" thing: does anyone have an idea what it could be?"

_"First set,"_ whispered Emmet.

_"What was that?_" he whispered back.

_"Vitruvius called it the First Set."_

_"Same difference."_

As Wonder Woman watched, the Space Guy started to look around, making sure no one was paying attention to him. She lowered her eyes when he turned her way, and when she looked up again, he was inching backwards towards the door. As soon as he reached it, he dashed out.

"That was weird," she said to herself.

Superman leaned into her space. "I know, right? How have we known each other for this long and not gone on a date?"

She put her hand in his face and pushed it away. Standing up, she said, "President Business, I think I might know how to find out about this Set thing, and I'm going to investigate it right now."

"Wonder Woman! Great! You do that."

She nodded to him, then vaulted up the stands and out the window. Once outside, she flew to the top of the Dog and started searching the wacky landscape for some sign of her target. She might be suspicious of him, but he had helped save the Universe. No one would appreciate baseless accusations against him, so she would have to find out what he was up to on her own.

Finally she spotted a little blue blur near the far edge of the cloud.

She flew over and landed on a rainbow just above where he was quickly building something. Silently she pulled out her lasso, gave it a few test twirls, and flicked it expertly, catching him and pinning his arms to his sides.

She jumped down from the rainbow and pulled him back a few feet. She almost felt bad when he fell on his butt and yelled, "Waaah! What's going on?!"

Like a panther she stalked around him and leaned in his face. "I could ask you the same question, _Space Guy."_


	2. Chapter 2

Benny blinked up at the strange person who had him lassoed. He definitely recognized her. She was a Master Builder. Wonder... something...

"Wonder... Woman..." he said slowly, unsure of himself.

Wonder Woman straightened up and frowned, confused by his strange reaction. "Um... Yes?"

He grinned. "I'm Ben, but you can call me Benny!" He tried to raise his arm to shake her hand, but realized it was still pinned to his side. "Oh..."

"I know who you are." She gave the lasso a swift jerk to let him know this was serious. "What I want to know is why you snuck out of the meeting? _What are you up too?!"_

His teeth were bared and he looked worried as she screamed in his face, but it only lasted a second. His enthusiastic smile was back. "I'm building a spaceship!"

Her eye twitched. "Why?"

His cheerful expression started to look a little more forced. "To... go home..."

"In the middle of a meeting about the end of the Universe?" She raised an eyebrow. "You do realize how suspicious that looks, right?"

He opened his mouth to answer, but she continued.

"You know what I think?" She started pacing. "I think the Duplo Invaders have returned, and are orchestrating this Dark Age to destroy everything they failed to gain. And I think _you,"_ she whirled and pointed at him, "are their spy."

To be honest she didn't completely believe this, but she figured it would make him squirm. Getting the bad guys to squirm was the first step in getting them to talk.

Of course, having a Lasso of Truth always helps.

Benny was staring at her as though she had suddenly sprouted a nose. "No one can _cause_ a Dark Age, or stop one."

"And how do you know that?" She crossed her arms smugly.

He smiled proudly. "This'll be my fourth."

"Oh..." It was easy to forget how long he must have been around.

"And I'm not a spy," he continued. "Can you untie me now?"

She gave him a long hard look. "First answer me this. Why are you running out on such an important meeting? Because it looks like you're abandoning everyone."

"I..." The facade fell. His mouth scrunched up and he met her eyes with what she could only describe as deep hurt. "I'm not abandoning them."

"Then what are you doing?"

He lowered his head, but what he said was the last thing she expected. "I'm going to get the Oldest Set."

Wonder Woman gaped at him. "You know what it is?"

He nodded, his head still down.

"Then you need to tell everyone! Come on!" She started dragging him towards the Dog, but he dug his heels into the ground in a futile attempt to slow her down.

"No! No, please!" he shouted.

She stopped and turned on him. "What's the big problem?"

"They'll think I'm crazy!" He looked like he was about to cry. "I don't want my friends to think I'm crazy. Not them too..."

That gave her pause. With him tied up in the Lasso, it meant at the very least he believed what he was saying down to the core of his being. For some reason, this made her incredibly sad.

With his feet braced against a block, he was almost standing, so when she gave him some slack he fell back onto his butt. As she walked over to him, he still kept his head down and his eyes to the side, refusing to look at her.

She frowned, this time not because she thought he was a traitor, but because he was so completely pitiful. "Where is it?"

He peered at her from under the edge of his helmet and then looked away again. "Where is what?"

"The Oldest Set," she bit out. This was so frustrating. She'd take beating up Super-Villains over this any day.

"It's on Retro Ridge."

She blinked at him in disbelief. "That place doesn't exist. It's a myth."

He sighed. "It's not. It's just that no one goes there, and the people who live there don't usually care to leave. If I take my friends, they'll ask questions I can't answer without sounding like a crazy person, so I thought I'd go and get it on my own, and then we could save the Universe together like we always do," his voice grew smaller and smaller, "and they wouldn't have to know..."

She thought about this. She thought carefully about everything he had said, and gave herself some time to come to a decision. Finally, she said, "I believe you."

His head snapped up, and he stared at her in slack-jawed awe. _"You do?"_

"Yes." She smiled sadly. "This is the Lasso of Truth. You couldn't lie to me right now if you tried." She leaned down and untied him, then offered a hand to pull him to his feet. "I'll let you go get this Set thing without telling the others, but on one condition."

"What's that?" He was already beaming at her. He'd agree to anything she said at this point.

"I'm going with you."

Benny choked. "That's a really bad idea."

"No. Letting you go alone when the fate of the Universe hangs in the balance is a bad idea. You're not exactly..." She paused. She was going to say _'all there,' _but considering the conversation they'd just had, he probably wouldn't appreciate it. She covered with, "... a Superhero, but I am. I'm used to this sort of thing, so we'll do it together, okay?"

He surprised her. She expected him to keep arguing, but instead he grinned at her like she was greatest thing since the invention of the croissant. "Just let me finish my spaceship!"

Wonder Woman watched him go to work on his half finished creation at double his original speed. "I have an Invisible Jet we can use," she said.

"That's cool!" He finished the left wing in a flurry of grey and blue. "But I don't think I can fly one of those." Suddenly there was a cockpit. "And I need to fly because I know where we're going."

"K..." She sat down on a cloud block and watched him finish.

* * *

She wasn't going to say anything, but Wonder Woman was impressed. Benny had made enough room in the cockpit that they didn't have to sit awkwardly close together, and the spaceship itself, on top of it's surprisingly cool design, was fast. In fact, it could probably give the Invisible Jet a run for its money.

Now if only it's pilot would stop singing, "Spaceship, spaceship, spaaaaceship," over and over.

"Uh, Space Guy?" She was getting worried as she looked out the window.

"It's Benny, and yes?"

"We're getting really high..." Anyone who learned to be a pilot was warned that the sky had a limit, and flying too high could lead to hitting it.

Benny said, "Don't worry, I know what I'm doing." He tilted the ship up and climbed a little higher.

"And what is that?" asked Wonder Woman, her voice rising along with the altitude.

He levelled out and pointed straight ahead. "We've gotta fly over the sun." Sure enough, the sun was right in front of them and getting bigger.

"Why?" Sometimes flying into the sun could get you to other worlds, but that was only around sunrise or sunset. This was midday. Flying into the sun now would just cause them to die in a fiery explosion.

Benny shrugged. "I don't really know. We just do. Can't get to Retro Ridge otherwise."

They were rapidly approaching the big orb in the sky now, and Wonder Woman was practically hugging the nearest panel. Not that she was scared or anything... nope.

It looked like they were going to crash, and at the moment of the expected explosion, Wonder Woman closed her eyes.

Only it never came.

When she opened them again, the sun was behind them

"Okay, so we flew over the sun. What next?"

"Um... just a sec." He was frantically searching out the windows in all directions. For what, she had no idea. "There!" He banked gracefully, and sure enough a cliff could be seen in the distance.

Wonder Woman was speechless. It was real, and it had to be at the very edge of the Universe.

The ship came to a perfect landing a little back from the cliff and next to a small red townhouse that had a blue roof and a little garden filled with oddly detailed bushes.

"Nice house," she said as she climbed down onto the grass.

Benny opted to float. "Thanks!"

"Wait," she did a double take. "You mean this is your house?"

"Sure is. I said I was going home, didn't I."

"Huh..." She had assumed he lived in Space Zone, but decided to drop it.

Feeling a strange draw, she walked to the edge of the cliff and looked down. The view took her breath away. "Wow... You can see everything from up here."

"Makes you feel pretty small, doesn't it?" He was standing next to her, looking down as well.

He was right. It did.

She was Wonder Woman, Princess Diana of Themyscira, a Superheroine, and a founding member of the Justice League, but right then she felt like a tiny little part of a massive whole; as average and powerless as a regular Bricksburger. It wasn't a bad feeling, just... unfamiliar.

Something was touching her shoulder, and she turned to find Benny smiling at her.

"Come on," he said. "We can't hang around here. The others don't like outsiders very much."

He started walking, and she followed.

"Who are the 'others?'" she asked.

He shrugged. "The people who live here. Some of them are like us, but most of them are... different."

"Different how?" There was concern creeping into her voice. She was picturing a race of giant, beast headed people, or something ghastly like that.

Benny was definitely uncomfortable as they reached a town of really old spaceships and trains, and almost alien looking houses. The structures weren't completely made of bricks or bits, but were formed in places in the manner of a relic. Even more troubling: there was not a soul to be seen.

_"It varies," _he said in a whisper._ "They're all from a long time ago, so they call themselves the Old Ones."_ He chuckled nervously. _"I think it's dumb."_

They exited the far edge of the town and came to a place that Wonder Woman would have trouble describing. It was a place of giant monoliths, each as tall as a building, made of a substance not of their world, and adorned with colourful pictures of people and objects. It made her head hurt to look at them.

"What are these things?"

Benny didn't look at her as he said, "They're Sets."

She stared at them, more interested now. "So we're looking for one of these? But what's in them?"

"Um... stuff..." He clearly didn't want to explain.

One of the Sets caught her eye. It had a picture of a large white robot and two space guys, one red, and one blue, like Benny. She reached out and touched the eerily smooth surface of the box. "Is this you?"

"No." He said it like the thought was crazy.

"But these are people? Is this some sort of... stasis chamber?"

"I guess you could call it that."

She turned and froze.

Standing directly behind Benny was a creature. It was taller then anyone she had ever seen before, and it had a head not of a man, but of a raccoon. It's arms were raised menacingly, ready to rip her companion limb from limb.

"Space Guy! Behind you!"


	3. Chapter 3

Before Benny could move, Wonder Woman vaulted over his head and kicked the creature in the face. She landed by its feet and swept a leg out to trip it. Once it was flat on its stomach she jumped on its back, grabbed its ankle, and started twisting it.

"Wonder Woman, stop!"

Benny was waving his arms around to get her attention.

"It's okay! He's cool."

She scowled at him. "You're sure?"

_"Yes!"_

As she slowly let go and got off the creature, Benny ran forward and helped it to it's feet.

"Roger, I am so sorry," he said. "Are you okay?"

It groaned and said, "I think so..." It checked itself over to be sure. "That was bogus, Ben."

"You've gotta stop sneaking up on people."

"I think you're right." It dusted it's pants and gave Wonder Woman a very suspicious look. "I can't believe you brought a Modern here. You're lucky Billy's got everyone up in Town Hall for a meeting, 'cause he is gonna _freak_ when he finds out."

Benny clicked his hands together awkwardly, "I was hoping he didn't have to know."

The Raccoon headed man stroked it's muzzle. "Yeah... sorry, dude. I'm totally gonna tell him."

Benny smacked his forehead.

Wonder Woman decided to intervene with a question that was bothering her. "What is this _thing_ supposed to be?"

"What are _you_ supposed to be?" The Raccoon responded. "You weird... stripey... sleeveless chick."

Benny got in between them. "Roger, this is Wonder Woman. Wonder Woman, meet Roger Raccoon. He's a Fabulander."

"Whoa!" Roger grinned. "You mean there's a Wonder Woman now? That's so _bad!"_

"I'll show you bad." She was pounding her hands together, but Benny stopped her.

_"No, bad means good," _he whispered.

"It does?"

Roger leaned in conspiratorially. With his big eyes and soft lines, he was rather cutesy, but his hight and his leering smile made him look menacing.

"Ya know, Billy doesn't _have_ to find out if... say... I could get a date?"

Both of them gawked at him in disgust. Wonder Woman's eye twitched, and if either of these guys started bargaining over her, she was going to deck them both.

But Benny dropped his arms and said, "You really suck, Roger."

The Raccoon shrugged. "What can I say. I'm an opportunist." He turned to leave and waved over his shoulder. "Anywho. See ya ladies. I'm out."

"You should've let me beat him up," said Wonder Woman as she glared at the retreating Fabulander.

Benny gave her an appreciative smile. "Lets find the Binding Blocks before they catch up to us." He bounced off to search.

Wonder Woman followed with her arms crossed, still fuming. "Is everyone here like that?"

"If you mean, 'are they all big jerks?' Then yes." He floated from box to box, defying gravity to get a better look at them.

She looked away, frowning. "And I thought I had problems..."

_"You_ have problems?" He was upside down, right in front of her face.

"Gah!" She leapt back. "Don't _do_ that," she said. She gave him a push, causing him to spin weightlessly away.

"Wanna talk about them?" he asked as he corrected his course.

"No." She shrigged. "I barely know you."

"Same here! And you already know more about my problems then anyone." He seemed ready to leave it though. He was already back to browsing the sets.

Wonder Woman stared at him thoughtfully. He had a point. And from the way that awful Racoon had been talking, he was in big trouble with his neighbours because of her. "Quid pro quo..." she said to herself.

Still, she wasn't about to complain about Superman and his flirting, Green Lantern's fanboyishness, or Batman's absenteeism. She wasn't some frat girl, and none of her "problems" were really problems at all. Heck, she felt bad for always brushing Supes off. He was a great guy.

"I just... feel like something's missing," she let slip.

"Then you should go out and find it."

"What?" She looked up, but Benny was't there. He was walking next to her.

"That's what I did," he said. He started speaking rapidly and zipping around her. "And now I have a bunch of awesome friends! And we go on adventures! And have meetings! And save the Universe! And it's AMAZING!"

She reached out and caught his shoulders. "Weren't you looking for something?" she asked with a wane smile.

"Oh yeah!" As though his tangent never happened, he soared off to continue searching the Sets. "It should be... right over here! Nope..."

She shook her head and continued to follow him at a leisurely pace. She was starting to stare around corners and check every shadow she passed. Benny's enthusiasm was infectious, and she was in a good mood, but she couldn't shake the feeling they were suddenly being watched.

She checked over her shoulder, in front of her, behind the box with the pig-man pushing the plough. The feeling was getting stronger.

"'Sup dudes?"

She whipped around. The Raccoon was a few feet behind her, standing next to another Fabulander who had a blue shirt and a grey, Goat-shaped head.

"You again?!" she hissed at Roger.

He leered. "Yep! Turns out, Billy was already on his way."

Benny dropped out of the sky and landed in front of her. As ridiculous as it was, it almost looked like he was trying to protect her.

He smiled and waved. "Hi guys!"

The greeting wasn't only directed at the two in front of them.

Wonder Woman looked around and found they were surrounded. Some of the people were normal, if simple and bald. There were a couple of various coloured Space Guys, and some more animal headed Fabulanders. And then there were the ones that made her skin crawl: people who were made of bits and blocks, with long necks and elongated limbs, or people who had their arms and legs fused to their bodies. These ones had no faces; nothing but blank, featureless, yellow heads.

Her stomach churned.

"Hello, Ben," said the Goat-headed man. He had a soft voice with a distinguished British accent. "I see you've gone and gotten yourself involved again."

* * *

Meanwhile, back at the Dog, things had taken a turn for the worst.

Halfway through the meeting, a Robot SWAT arrived to announce that the Wild West had vanished. Everything quickly dissolved into shouting and panic after that.

Finally Metalbeard yelled, "ENOUGH WITH YE, YOU LOT 'O SCURVY DOGS!"

In the silence that followed, President Business cleared his throat. "Thanks," he said to the giant pirate.

"No problem, matey."

Business stepped up. "Okay, so hanging around here and panicking isn't going to get us anywhere. We need to gather information, and we need to form a game plan. I want all of you to go out there, and scour the entire Universe if you have to! We need to find that Set!"

As the Master Builders cleared out, Emmet said, "Hey, guys? Did any of you see what happened to Benny?"

Most of them shrugged and looked around. They hadn't even noticed their friend was gone.

But Batman, who was texting on his Batphone, said, "He left ages ago. Around the same time as Wonder Woman."

"Oh..." Emmet frowned at the dark knight. "Why didn't you say something?"

He didn't look up. "He's a what? A 1980-Something Space Guy? Who cares if he leaves?"

Emmet was tapping his mouth instead of answering, so Lucy stood next to him. "I do!" she said indignantly.

Metalbeard raised his hand. "I do as well! Things ain't the same without the little space lubber around."

"Ugh! I didn't mean it like that..."

Emmet was muttering, "1980-Something Space Guy... 1980-Something Space Guy..." Suddenly he grabbed Lucy by the arms and shook her. "1980-SOMETHING SPACE GUY!"

"Yes! I get it already!" She pushed him off. "Are feeling okay?"

He was practically vibrating with excitement. "Don't you get it?! Benny's from the 80s!"

She frowned. "So?"

_"So_, that means he's been around for... like... forever!"

Batman scowled. "So he's old. Good for him."

"Oh my gee, oh, es, e_ytch!" _Emmet was tearing at his hear. "He might know what the First Set is!"

They all stared at him, dumbfounded. _"Ooooh!" _they said in unison.

"If he does... why would he leave without saying anything?" asked Unikitty. Her eyes were big and watery at the thought of one of their friends betraying them.

"I don't know," answered Emmet. "I mean, I could be wrong, but my hunch says he knows something. I bet... I bet he's gone to get it."

Lucy said, "That still doesn't explain why he didn't say something."

"But he loves this type of stuff," Emmet pointed out. "And he wouldn't run away."

"Aye!" bellowed Metalbeard. "The wee fellow be many things, but a coward ain't one of 'em."

Even Batman nodded. "And it wouldn't surprise me if he decided to go on his own. The guy's always been a few bats shy of a belfry."

"And you're not?" snickered Emmet

Batman growled at him. "My belfry has plenty of bats!"

While everyone tried not to laugh, Business considered all of this along with the little he knew about the strange Space Guy. "It's plausible," he said. "There's only one way to find out for sure."

Once all eyes were on him he grinned dramatically. "We go to Space Zone and confront him!"


	4. Chapter 4

**I'm not doing notes on this story, but I wanted to thank everyone who's reviewed so far. The reception has been awesome!**

* * *

The Goat regarded them cooly. "I'm not even going to ask why you keep seeking the company of these Monderns, but I do want to know why you would bring one here."

"I forced him to," Wonder Woman answered for Benny. She couldn't deny she was responsible for this situation. He did say it was a bad idea, and she was starting to understand why.

"You must be Wonder Woman," said the Goat. "My name is Billy. I would say it's a pleasure, but... I don't really care for your kind. Common... _Worthless..."_

_"Excuse me?" _She couldn't believe he was talking to her like that.

Benny put an arm in front of her before she could storm over. He subtly shook his head, his eyes pleading.

_"I _broke the rules," he said. "But this is really important! Universe saving important!"

Billy sneered. "Yes, I _know_ what you're here for: the Automatic Binding Bricks? Like we would let you take something so valuable."

"But this is the Universe we're talking about!"

_"Their_ Universe," he pointed at Wonder Woman. "Not ours, Ben. We have _never_ been a part of it."

Benny muttered, _"Because you never tried to be..."_

"What should we care if it ends?" Billy continued as though he didn't hear that. "We're not going anywhere. We have value, unlike that Modern rabble down there who don't even know what they are!" He paused, and gave Benny a cold glare. "But you know..."

_"What's he talking about?" _Wonder Woman whispered to Benny, but the Goat was still going on.

"You're one of us, or you would be... if you weren't so dinged, and worn, and _shabby_. I mean, look at that sticker of yours..."

Benny gave his planet sticker a self conscious glance.

"It's practically scratched off. And don't get me started on your helmet."

Wonder Woman was quickly becoming furious. Who did this Billy Goat think he was? She looked to Benny, who she expected to be just as upset, but he simply rolled his eyes and smirked at her.

Billy still wasn't finished. "I have absolutely no idea why Carl keeps you up here with us proper, mint condition, Old Ones, but that doesn't matter anymore. You're worth _nothing_ now. You're going to stay here with us, and when your precious Universe ends, you will be thrown out like the bit of garbage that you are."

He looked really smug about his speech... until Wonder Woman's fist connected with his jaw.

"I don't think so," she said. She'd heard enough from this guy to know he was a villain worth pummelling. He was practically screaming it.

Suddenly there was red laser fire. Some of the Space Guys had blasters, but she dodged them easily, and deflected a couple of shots with her bracelets.

Billy dragged himself away from her and yelled, "Grab Ben! He can't be allowed to leave!"

Wonder Woman was going to hit him again, but was distracted when a Lion-headed Fabulander tried to crush her head with his arm. She ducked under it and sent him flying with a kick.

She then noticed that all the Space Guys had their blasters turned on Benny, and a couple of the others were encircling him, ready to pounce. She was worried for a second, but he activated the thrusters under his oxygen tanks and rocketed upwards in a burst of flame.

When she focused back on the Goat, he was gone. Roger had fled as well.

Benny was safe for a moment, until the other Space Guys remembered they also had thrusters. He dodged them, and searched frantically for blocks that he could build with, but there was nothing.

A yellow-clad guy swooped in from the side. He tried to knock Benny on the head, but didn't account for his blue counterpart's level of experience.

Benny gave up on his weightlessness and dropped like a stone. At the same time, he grabbed the yellow guy's blaster. He allowed himself to plummet, only re-engaging his anti-gravity on time to keep himself from crashing into the ground. He waited, and just when the others were on him, he moon jumped back into the air.

They crashed into the spot where he had been... oldest trick in the book.

He was able to fire back now, and he flew circles around the remaining Space Guys, taking them out one by one.

What he was too busy to see was that, by some stretch of logic, a white, Bird-headed Fabulander in a red aviator's helmet was flying by flapping his normal, person arms. He hovered nearby, watching carefully for the perfect moment to strike. He dove head first into the fray, connecting squarely with Benny's chest and driving him to the ground.

The surface of Retro Ridge didn't have give like some of the other worlds, so the impact was hard. Hard enough to make Benny's plastic chest creak.

The Bird bounced off of him and landed a few inches away. Benny flipped onto his side and tried to stand, but found he was unable to move. The Bird and the Space Guys were advancing on him. He was caught.

The Bird reached down, but before he could lay a hand on Benny, the Lasso of Truth snagged his wrist. He was pulled into the air and spun around twice, before a furious Wonder Woman sent him careening into three of the Space Guys. She then rushed the rest, taking them down with a blinding flurry of kicks, punches, and throws.

She ended by standing protectively over Benny, glaring as the Old Ones ran or crawled away as fast as they were able.

"Wow," Benny said weakly. "That was awesome."

"Um... thanks."

He rolled onto his front and laid there, trying to catch the breath that had been so thoroughly knocked out of him.

Wonder Woman bent down and placed a hand on his back. "Space Guy?"

He turned his head to one side and smiled. "I'm ok."

She smiled back and shook her head. "Let's get you on your feet." She gave his arm a tug and he obliged.

He tried to stand straight at first, but ended up bent forward. "Ow..."

"I don't see any cracks." Wonder Woman checked him over while he recovered. "You should be fine."

"Told you." He was finally able to straighten up.

Wonder Woman chuckled. "Come on. We need to find your Set before the Old Ones come back."

They walked in silence for a moment, but Benny couldn't resist it. "Hey Wonder Woman? Guess what."

"What?"

He lifted his left hand, which had managed to keep hold of the gun he stole. "I have a blaster now!"

* * *

The Batwing touched down on the moonlike surface of Space Zone, home of Star Destroyers, Millennium Falcons, and other, more generic space stuff.

The Gang (as we'll call them until they decide on a name) piled out and headed for the nearest spaceship. It was a large, black and orange affair, and there was a trio of matching Space Guys milling around outside of it. Even their visors were orange...

They ended their conversation and stared as Emmet approached them. "Hi there!" he said.

"Hey... " One of them raised his hand hand lamely in greeting and stepped forward. "This is Space Zone."

"Um... yeah..." Emmet rocked awkwardly on his heels. "We noticed?"

The Space Guy looked the group up and down. "So where are your space suits?"

Emmet looked back at his friends. Lucy shrugged at him, and Batman made coo-coo gestures. "We don't have any, or... well... one of us does, but we're looking for him. He's a Space Guy like you."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Space Guy? We're called _Astronauts_, buddy."

One of the other "Astronauts" pointed at him. "Yeah! Who do you think we are? Benny?"

"Benny! Yes!" Emmet nodded without understanding. "That's who we're looking for!"

The Astronauts glanced at each other and back at the Construction Worker. _"Seriously_? Why would you want to find that nut-job? He's insane!"

"Wuuah?!" Emmet's jaw dropped.

The third Astronaut chipped in with, "And besides, we haven't seen him around here in ages."

Emmet was speechless, so Lucy said, "What do you mean? He's a Space Guy, this is Space Zone, doesn't he live here?"

They started to laugh. "What makes you think we'd let that visor-less freak live here?"

"That's our friend you're talking about!" growled Unikitty. Her eyes were tinged with red.

The Astronauts stopped laughing and the leader gawked at her with a smug smirk. "Wait, you're _friends_ with him?!"

Metalbeard picked the poor man up. "Aye, our friend he be!" he yelled in the Astronaut's face. "And me thinks you know more then you be letting on! Now ye'll tell us where we can find our friend or we'll be discoverin' if we can fit a cannonball in that big mouth 'o yers."

He cocked his gun arm at his captive, who was trying to claw his way free from the iron grip. "I don't know anything! I _swear!"_

"Now why don't I believe ye?"

The other two Astronauts were cowering by their spaceship and were too frightened to say anything.

"I might be able to help you," said a grave voice.

They turned to find a 1980s Space Guy standing behind them. He could have been Benny's twin, except that his space suit was red and he looked glossy and new. Also, Benny was probably incapable of such a severe expression.

He pointed at Metalbeard. "But first, I'd ask you to release Captain Simmons. He's an idiot, but he doesn't deserve to have his head blown off."

The Robot Pirate reluctantly placed his captive on the ground. The Astronaut ran and hid behind his two fellows.

The red Space Guy walked around everyone and addressed the trembling trio. "Why don't you men go... do something. I need to talk to these good people."

Captain Simmons nodded. "Y... y... yes sir!"

They saluted and skedaddled.

As the Space Guy turned to them, Lucy said, "Wait, I know you. You're a Master Builder!"

"Indeed I am." He saluted, "Admiral Red, at your service."

Emmet's eyes widened with recognition. "Oh yeah! I remember you, but isn't there usually a white Space Guy too?"

Red nodded. "Major White is gone 'scouring the Universe,' as per orders."

"Then why are you hanging around here?" asked President Business with a quirk of his unibrow.

Admiral Red matched him eyebrow for eyebrow. "We thought one of us should stay. If something were to happen to Space Zone, the presence of a Master Builder could save a lot of lives."

"That... makes really good sense," Business conceded.

Lucy stepped in front of him. "I'm sorry. Did you say you could help us find Benny?"

"I said I _might_ be able to." Red scratched his chin. "I know where he lives."

_"That's kinda creepy,"_ muttered Emmet.

"Even if he's not there, you may find a clue to his current location."

Lucy frowned at him. "So... where does he live?"

"On Retro Ridge."

They stared at him, speechless.

Metalbeard threw his arms in the air. "He be daft, me hearties! There be no such place!"

"He's right." President Business scowled. "I had my robots search everything back when... well... you know... and they never found it. Retro Ridge is a _myth."_

The Admiral wasn't fazed by their scepticism. Calmly he said, "You wouldn't find it like that. You have to know exactly where to look."

"And let me guess," said Batman. "You know that exact... looking... spot."

"I do."

"And how do we know you're not just crazy?"

Red sighed. "You don't. But before you disregard me, I ask you to hear me out."

They looked to each other, coming to a decision collectively.

"Alright," said Emmet. "We're listening."

Admiral Red frowned deeply, and started pacing. "Major White and I are supposed to be old, but we didn't appear in the Universe until... oh... about a year before the TAKOS Tuesday incident." He glanced President Business and looked away. "We started out on Retro Ridge, and we were told we belonged there because we fit the 'Retro Aesthetic,' but we didn't like the attitude of the place, so we left."

_"You're_ from this Ridge place too?" interrupted Emmet.

Red smirked. It was a sharp expression, and it vanished quickly. "We found our way here, to Space Zone, and things were good for awhile... but then Benny showed up. The poor fellow was so excited to see us. He knew all about Retro Ridge and said he was from there too. He thought we could prove to the other people in this world that he wasn't crazy."

He sighed and rubbed his forehead. "I'm not proud of this, but... we had just arrived, and we were trying to find our place, so when everyone started making fun of him, and calling him insane... we pretended we didn't know what he was talking about."

There was a gasp, four sets of glares, one look of disinterest (Batman), and one villainous scowl (Business).

Unikitty was the first to speak up. She was turning as red as Red's spacesuit as she yelled, "You... you Admiral _BUTTFACE!_ How could you do that to poor Benny!"

It took the combined strength of Metalbeard, Lucy, and Emmet to hold her back from mauling the Admiral.

Red hung his head. "Like I said, I'm not proud. That's why I'm telling you this. If there's anything I can do, I'd like to help."

Unikitty was dragged away by Metalbeard so she could take deep breaths and calm herself.

Meanwhile Emmet brushed his hands off and said, "Ok Admiral Red. How do we get there?"

Red blinked at him. "You believe me?"

"I believe Benny." He wore a confident grin. "And you said _he_ believes in this place, right? Then it has to exist, 'cause Benny's not crazy... a little space-brained maybe, but not crazy."

For the first time since the conversation started, the Admiral smiled.

* * *

"So what are we doing again?" Batman asked over his shoulder.

"Hold on." Emmet struggled to read the messily scrawled instructions that Admiral Red had jotted on the back of a Millennium Falcon instruction book. "Ok. We have to fly over the sun."

"Uh-huh."

"Not hit the edge of the sky and crash."

"Got that."

"And... head for the highest point in the Universe."

"Yep. Anything else? Maybe something that doesn't sound completely _insane?!"_

Lucy leaned forward from her spot between Emmet and President Business in the back seat of the Batwing. "What the matter? Don't think you can handle it?" she taunted.

"Babe, I can handle anything, because..."

They all groaned. They knew what was coming.

"I'm Batman." He aimed the Batwing at the sun and punched it, causing Metalbeard, who was clinging to the outside, to scream a string of totally not age appropriate curses.

"I didn't mean 'fly like a maniac!'" Lucy thwacked him on the back of the head until he slowed down.

They fell into a comfortable silence, and that's when Batman heard it. A sort of constant rattling noise.

"What is that?"

"What is what?" asked Unikitty. She had called shotgun and so was sitting pretty in the passenger seat.

There it was again! Batman used his superior senses to pinpoint the sound. It was coming from the pink cat princess beside him.

"Are you _purring?"_

Unikitty stiffened. "Um... yes. Is it bothering you?"

"Whatever."

The silence got very awkward. The three unfortunate souls in the back seat were stuck giving Batman and Unikitty weird looks and pretending they weren't listening.

Finally Unikitty worked up the nerve to say, "So... how's things been? With you?"

Batman didn't even look at her. "I'm trying to fly here. You know... _not_ crash and kill us horribly in a ball of flame?"

"Oh... sorry..." she flattened her ears and tried to sink through her seat.

Batman let her wallow in misery for a couple of seconds before decency won out. "Things are fine. Business is good. Lots of crime to thwart. I think the Joker is gonna to try and assassinate Abraham Lincoln again, so I'll have to deal with _that_ after this thing's over."

"Wow!" sparkles burst from Unikitty's head. "That sounds super duper fun-er..."

Batman was giving her a look.

"I mean _dark_ and... and... _ominous,_" she said in her best attempt to sound just that. It failed, but Batman seemed to be appeased.

_"What's going on?"_ Emmet whispered to Lucy.

_"Shut up,"_ she whispered back.

Finally they cleared the sun and Metalbeard yelled, "There she blows!"

They looked in the direction he was pointing and sure enough there was a landmass in the clouds that was unmistakably the highest point in the Universe.

"Huh," said Batman as he steered for it. "The Red guy wasn't insane after all."

He landed next to a blue spaceship that had to be Benny's handiwork. "Doesn't look like he's here." The spaceship was empty, as was the nearby townhouse.

"Let's fly around for a bit, see if we can spot something," Emmet suggested.

They took off again and passed over the town, then they entered the field of box sets.

Batman shuddered. "What _are_ these things?"

Emmet was staring blankly at them, lost in strange memories.

"They're relics of some sort, but I've never seen any so big before," said Business.

Unikitty started jumping in her seat. "There! There! There!"

"What?"

Metalbeard shouted, "Wonder Woman ahoy!"

"Did you just say _Wonder Woman?"_ Batman strained his eyes, and sure enough, he spotted a bit of red, gold, and blue wandering next to one of the boxes.

Wonder Woman ignored the Batwing as it landed next to her. She was too busy searching the sky for something much smaller and bluer. She was just about ready to take to the sky herself to search for him, when a cry of, "Wonder Woman? What are you going here?" gave her pause.

She cringed. This wasn't going to end well.

"Hi guys," she said. "I was helping the Space Guy and-"

"So Benny _is_ here?" Unikitty was in her face.

"He should be." She leaned back. "I kinda lost track of him. He's surprisingly fast."

Emmet still had a strangely blank look on his face. "Have you found it yet?"

"Uhhhh..."

"The First Set?"

She wasn't sure how to answer. She had already gotten Benny in trouble with the Old Ones. She didn't want to ruin things with his friends too.

Luckily she didn't have to say anything.

"Wonder Woman! Wonder Woman! I found-" Benny came careening around a corner and stopped dead at the sight of his friends. They were staring at him.

"Aww _moon rocks..."_


	5. Chapter 5

The weight of his friends' stares caused Benny to sink back down to earth. In his mind, they were mad him, they possibly even hated him, but in reality they just didn't know what to say.

It was Unikitty who ran up to him and nuzzled him. He let her, but he was confused.

"But... what... _how?!"_ he spluttered.

Unikitty stepped back. "We know you left without saying anything because you were scared of what we'd think, but we're your _friends _Benny."

His mouth was open and his eyes were tearing up. "How... did you..."

Lucy said, "We went looking for you in Space Zone and we met Admiral Red. He told us... stuff."

"Oh." His voice was flat, as was his expression.

Unikitty nuzzled him again. It was the closest she could come to giving a hug with her strange body shape. "I promise I will never, ever, _ever_ tease you or call you crazy like those meanie-weanie space jerks."

Benny closed his eyes and put his arms around her neck, returning the hug. He wasn't crying, but he was close.

Wonder Woman watched all of this with an uncomfortable smile on her face. The only person here she could say she knew was Batman, who was retching beside her. She smacked his shoulder, thinking he was being rude.

"Don't do that," he groaned. "I seriously don't feel good."

She ignored him. As sweet as the scene was, she couldn't shake the feeling that things weren't going to turn out as perfectly as they seemed. The tiny bit that she had learned from Benny was madness, even if he himself was surprisingly sane. She couldn't say she was looking forward to going deeper down this messed up rabbit hole.

Out of the corner of her eye, she thought she saw something. It was brown and shadowed and stretching above them forever, like a great ceiling, but when she looked at it all she saw was sky.

"Emmet? _Emmet?" _Lucy was wavering her hand in front of Emmet's eyes, but he wasn't responding. He was staring straight ahead, his face expressionless. "What's wrong with you?"

Metalbeard bent over with his hands on his knees. "Ohhh... this boat be rocking hard."

Even Unikitty was starting to turn green. Benny put his hands on her shoulders to keep her from swaying. "Are you ok?"

"Ohhh..." She hiccuped and shook her head. "I think so... everything's spinning like a bad carousel..."

"Aye." Metalbeard straitened up. "But it be settlin' now."

He did look a lot better, but Unikitty and Batman were still ill. Emmet wasn't well off either. Lucy tried shaking him, but could barely get him to budge.

"He won't snap out of it," she panted. "Benny, do you have any idea what's going on?"

His voice rose in pitch. "No! I've never seen this before!"

"It's the Sets," Wonder Woman said calmly. All attention was suddenly on her.

"What Sets?" asked President Business.

"These big box things." She pointed at one. _"These _are Sets, right Space Guy?"

Benny cringed. "Yeah..."

She gave him an encouraging smile and went on. "Well... my head's been pounding ever since I got here."

"It has?! But you didn't say anything!" Benny was practically hyperventilating at the thought that he had endangered everyone's health.

She waved him off. "It's a headache. It's nothing. My point is, the moment I saw these things, I started suffering strange symptoms, and the same thing happened to all... er... _most _of you. The Sets must have some sort of weird effect on people."

"I _do _have a bit of a pressure behind my eyes..." said Lucy.

Business had wandered over to one of the boxes and was examining it. "That's a decent assumption," he said without turning. "I've never had this problem with relics before, but these things come from outside our Universe. Who _knows _what they can do." He looked over his shoulder at them with a grin. "On top of that, I'm fit as a fiddle right now, and so is Benny, right big guy?"

Benny nodded, though he looked very guilty about that fact.

"Well, I spend a lot of time around weird, alien stuff, and Benny's from here, so must we be used to it. By the way, Ben, can you explain these things a bit better? Like... what do they do? Why do they all say _Lee-Goh?"_

"It's pronounced Lego." Benny gasped and slapped his hands over his mouth. He knew... he _knew _he could trust them, but the fear of loosing their friendship was still too great. He wasn't ready yet.

Besides, if just _looking_ at the old Lego Sets was making everyone sick, what would finding out the truth do to them?

But President Business wasn't about to let up. _"Really?"_ he said. His face twisted into a hungry leer. "Do go on."

Benny shook his head, his eyes wide. "L... later. K?"

"Aww, come _on!" _Business decided to give whining a try. He knew Benny wasn't good at turning people down when they wanted something. "You can tell your old buddy Business, and I _really wanna know!"_

Benny still had his hands over his mouth, but he froze as he tried to think of an excuse that wouldn't offend the President.

"I don't think he should." Wonder Woman came to his rescue. "It could make our symptoms worse."

"Yes! Exactly! _Thank you!"_

Business groaned, and was about to argue, but Emmet chose that moment to finally start doing something... and by something I mean wordlessly walking away. Lucy grabbed his arm and tried to pull him back, but she ended up getting pulled along. It was as though he was being moved by an invisible force. "I can't stop him!"

"Let me try." Wonder Woman rolled up her non-existent sleeves and flew over, only to be dragged as well. Even Metalbeard couldn't do anything.

"Yar! It be as though he be Kragled to the ground!" he said, scratching his head.

The others followed along. All except Batman, who lurched forward a few steps and then stopped. Benny and Unikitty, stopped as well.

"Go on. I... think I'll stay here and keep -_hrk- _an eye on the Batwing," said Batman.

Benny shook his head. "We can't. The Old Ones might come back, and you won't be able to fight them like that."

"What's an 'Old One?'" Unikitty asked in a frightened voice.

"You don't wanna know." Benny went over to Batman, picked him up by the back of his cape, and floated them both after the others.

Batman struggled lamely. "No! Put me down! This isn't helping!"

"Sorry, Batman." Benny was starting to sound cheerful again, and he didn't do as the Dark Knight requested. He noticed Unikitty running after them and remembered she was sick as well. "Do you need a lift too?" he called down to her.

"It's ok, Benny. I fell a bunch better now!" She looked it too. Her proper pink hue was back.

"That's great!" Benny smiled, relieved.

When they caught up, they found the two women and the robot pirate still latched to Emmet, and still getting dragged.

Benny drifted alongside of them. "Uh, guys? I think you should let him go."

"But what if he walks off the cliff or something?" Lucy said through gritted teeth.

"I don't think he will. He's heading in the direction of the Oldest Set. He must be drawn to it, or something."

The three looked at each other, shrugged, and let go. They followed in silence... except for Wonder Woman, who was trying not to laugh at the sight of the mighty Batman being carried around like a bit of wet laundry.

"You hanging in there, Bats?"

He moaned and said, "I hate you so much right now."

Benny patted him on the shoulder with this free hand. "It's okay. We're almost there."

"You too... so... much... hate..."

Benny frowned worriedly. Sometimes he couldn't tell when Batman was being serious, or just being Batman. Wonder Woman was laughing, though, so he smiled. It was probably okay.

Finally, Emmet stopped in front of a large box. It was an eerie thing, not at all like the others. It's surface was old, slightly uneven, yellowed, and flaking in some places, and it had three images on the front. The two smaller illustrations were just of random junk: a few walls, a little tower, and a factory, all made from red, white, yellow, and green bricks.

The illustration in the middle, though, was troubling. There was a fairly regular house, but it was being dwarfed by the room it was in... and the two creatures building it.

At the bottom it said, 'Automatic Binding Bricks.'

Even President Business shuddered.

"I'm gonna be sick," said Batman. He kicked his way free and ran out of sight to throw up in privacy.

"What _is _that?!" asked Business. He seemed to be the only one who could even use his voice.

Benny was about to answer, but it was Emmet who spoke first.

"This is the origin of all things," he said in a dead, emotionless voice.

Lucy looked him over in concern and put a hand on his forehead. "Babe? You coming back to me?"

He didn't seem to know she was there. "This is the Oldest Set in the Universe, but it is not a part of anything. It can not save us." He went silent for a couple of seconds, and then fell backwards.

Lucy was panicking as she kneeled over him. "Emmet? Emmet!"

He blinked a couple of times and said, "Oooh wow... ow... why does my head feel like it's been under a jackhammer all day?"

"Oh thank goodness." She pulled him back to his feet and into hug. "I'm so glad you're back."

"I went somewhere?" He blinked around at everyone. They were staring at them weirdly, especially a certain blue-clad Space Guy who looked almost frightened. "Hey Benny."

"Hey... Emmet." Benny waved sheepishly.

"When did you get here? And... is that _Wonder Woman?!"_

Lucy took Emmet's head in her hands and forced him to look her in the eyes. He frowned. He saw all the love and intensity he was used to finding there, but also a disturbing amount of fear. Her too? "What happened?" he asked, taking her hands.

"I don't know, Emmet. I really don't. You just kept walking, and it was like there was no one home."

He frowned. "Weird..."

"Yeah, it was. You weirdo." President Business smirked at him so he rolled his eyes.

Then he noticed what they were standing in front of. _"Whoa! _What the heck is _that?!"_

Everyone was looking at him funny again. "What?"

"This is the Oldest Set," said Benny. He offered a smile that didn't stick. "But while you were doing your trance... thingie, you said it couldn't save us."

"I did?" Emmet frowned. "But why would I say that? Vitruvius' prophecy clearly... wait. Did you just say '_Oldest_ Set?'"

"Uhh... yeah. That's what President Business said at the Master Builder meeting." He scowled and put on a scarily accurate impression of the President. _"'So, this "Oldest Set" thing: does anyone have an idea what it could be?' _And... well... this is it."

Business was giving everyone shifty eyes and sweating. "What? _Naw! _I didn't say that!"

"Yes you did," Wonder Woman said cooly. "That was _exactly_ what you said."

Emmet and Lucy were glaring at him as well. "See? I _told _you!" said Emmet.

"Care to explain?" Wonder Woman asked Lucy.

She sighed and messaged her temples. "Vitruvius said to find the _First_ Set, not the Oldest. Genius over here couldn't keep his words straight."

"Oh _please. _They mean the same thing," said Business.

Benny had an odd, mad grin on his face, he was trying not to burst out laughing, and his eye was twitching. For a moment there, he really did look crazy. "No! They really don't!" he said in a high, frantic voice. "This thing might be older then anything, but it's only been here for a couple of years and it's never been opened as far as I know, while the _First S_et isn't as old, but it's _literally_ the first thing that ever existed in the entire Universe!" He said that all in one breath, and it left him gasping.

"Oh _great!" _Emmet threw his arms in the air. "Let me guess, it's all the way over in Dino Land or something."

Benny settled down a little. "Actually... it's in my back yard."

_"WHAT?!"_ Wonder Woman looked appalled. She flew over to him. "You mean, we could've just grabbed it and left? We would have been back by now!"

"I _know!"_ he wailed. He threw his arms around her and buried his face her shoulder.

She blushed as she patted him awkwardly and looked at the others, who were staring. "Okay... alright... that's enough." She gently pushed him off. She didn't like the smirk the pink cat was giving her.

He sniffled. "Sorry..."

Way too cheerfully, Unikitty bounced up and said. "It's okay, Benny. It wasn't _your _fault."

President Business rolled his eyes. "Yes, I get it! Everyone makes mistakes. Let's just get the thing and save the Universe already."

* * *

Batman was laying on his back, watching the sky slowly spin above him.

"Found him!" yelled a voice that sounded like it was coming from inside his head. Something nudged him in the side, and he looked over to see it was a foot.

"Come on, Bats." Wonder Woman's face swam into view. "Upsy daisy. We're leaving."

"Oh thank Gosh..." He struggled to his feet and started hobbling as fast as he could in the direction of the Batwing.

When the others found them, Lucy took one look at him and turned to Wonder Woman. "Any chance you know how to fly the Batwing?"

"No." Wonder Woman shrugged. "He's never let me near the thing."

"Ok, so we're gonna let Benny fly."

Benny gasped, pure joy on his face. He zipped off to take his place in the cockpit.

"Nooooo..." moaned Batman, but then he stumbled and almost fell over. "Yeah... okay..."

It was crowded, but Wonder Woman opted to fly alongside the Batwing, so they managed to fit. Batman was in the passenger seat. He was feeling better, but still queasy, and he fussed over Benny and the controls as they prepared to take off.

"It's cool, I got this." Benny eased the craft into the air.

"I swear, if you put so much as one scratch on her I will _end you!"_

Benny rolled his eyes. "Seriously, its not much different from a spaceship." He proved this by banking away from the cliff and easily following the Ridge.

Soon the land of Sets was behind them, and Batman gave it one last shuddering glance. "Let's never go there again."

"Agreed," said everyone else, including Benny.

They came upon the little townhouse and the spaceship, and Benny brought the Batwing in for a landing.

"Careful... _careful!"_ Batman started clawing him.

Benny gave him a frustrated glance, pushed him off, and landed perfectly.

The Space Guy didn't say anything or look at anyone as he jumped out. He walked over to the house and into the back yard, where he started moving the bushes in the garden. Everyone gathered around as a little grey craft was slowly revealed from beneath the shrubbery.

It was beat up even worse then Benny. Pieces were clearly missing, one of the prongs was broken, and the red antenna on the front looked like it had been chewed on.

"This is it?" asked Emmet.

"Sure is." Benny ran an affectionate hand over one of the wings. "The Space Dart I."


	6. Chapter 6

**Just a quick thing: I found out it's Cloud Cuckoo Land, not Coo-Coo Land. When I started this, people were using both, but now Lego has produced an actual playset. I went back and corrected the previous chapters.**

**It's nothing big, but I'm a stickler for consistancy (unlike Unikitty).**

* * *

"Why isn't it in a box like the other Sets?" Emmet tilted his head.

Benny kept his back turned as he said, "It got taken out of the box. That... happens sometimes."

"I've got a question!" President Business actually raised his hand in the air before pointing at the Space Dart. "Why's it an old piece of junk? Like... are those bite marks?"

Emmet punched him in the shoulder, but Benny wasn't too upset. "It's not old, it's Retro!" he said proudly. "And it existed _before _the Universe. Did you expect something shiny and new?"

_"I expected something that wasn't junk..._" Business muttered. Emmet heard him and punched him again. "Ow!"

Lucy shook her head at their antics. "But, Benny, why would something this important be buried in _your _garden?"

He shrugged. "I didn't want the others to find it."

"The Old Ones?" Unikitty asked with wide, frightened eyes.

"Yeah... they don't like anything that doesn't look brand new, so when I started leaving the Ridge, I hid it 'cause I was afraid they'd try to get rid of it while I was gone."

Unikitty gasped. "Why would they do that?"

"We... don't... get along..."

Wonder Woman snorted. "I'll say. It seemed more like they hate you, and speaking of which, I'm surprised they haven't come back for round two. That Goat was pretty wimpy, but he didn't seem like a quitter."

"Goat? Old Ones?" Emmet looked between the two. "And what do you mean, they hate him?" he asked Wonder Woman.

Benny was pleading with his eyes, so she gave him a gentle look. "Well..."

"She means that our leader won't be happy until Ben is destroyed."

That didn't come from any of them. Up on the roof of Benny's house was sitting Roger Racoon, grinning down at them. "Along with the entire Universe of course. Billy hates anything that's more important then he is, and... well... he ain't that important."

"What the heck are you supposed to be!" growled Batman.

Wonder Woman gritted her teeth and resisted the urge to charge the Racoon. _"Roger..."_

He winked at her and turned to Benny. "I gotta say, I'm impressed. We had no _idea_ you were hiding something like that out here, though we sure know now."

"What do you want, Raccoon?" Wonder Woman demanded.

Everyone else was standing around, looking confused.

Roger shrugged. "I thought I'd warn you dudes, Billy's got a little something a friend gave him. He wasn't going to use it, 'cause it ain't his "style," but you got him so mad that he's flipped the switch. They'll be here any minute now. You guys better split."

"Aren't you on his side?" asked Benny. "Why are you telling us this?"

Roger scratched at his nose. "Eh... I don't really care if the Universe ends or not. I'm just hoping for some good fireworks." He looked over his shoulder. "And here they come. Which is my cue to leave."

He stood up and turned, but Wonder Woman started twirling her lasso and said, "You're not going anywhere!"

Batman followed her lead and pulled out his grappling hook as well. They were prepared to jump the Fabulander in unison, but before they could, black shapes started flying up from the edge of the Ridge and blot out the sun.

Micromanagers. _Hundreds _of them.

The two Superheroes shot glares at President Business.

"Don't look at me!" He put his arms in the air. "I threw all those things in a landfill!"

While they weren't looking, Roger had reached the top of the roof. He tilted his head at them and said, "Put on a good show for me, will ya?"

As the Micromanagers swarmed, he dropped off the other side of the house and was gone.

Benny drew the blaster he had somehow adhered to his hip, jumped onto the Space Dart, and started firing. Unikitty joined him as her fur turned blazing red. The first robot to come too close was going to finds itself crushed in her monstrous maw.

As the swarm descended on them, everyone started fighting in their own way. Metalbeard was firing wildly, occasionally grabbing a Micromanager and shooting it point blank in the face. Batman was flipping about with his grappling hook, deactivating them from behind. Business had donned his flaming headdress and stomping boots and was kicking his old creations. And Lucy quickly turned a bunch of them into a robotic battle suit.

Wonder Woman opted to stick close to the Space Guy and the ship. He was what these fiends were after, and she wasn't about to let them have him. She lassoed one robot as it swooped in and slammed it to the ground, jumped on the face of another, ripped two of its arms off, and beat a third to death with them.

Between her strength, the Space Guy's blaster, and the cat's fangs, they were doing a good job of defending.

Though it would _help_ if the Special did something.

Emmet was just standing there, watching the chaos unfold around him as he formed a game plan. Finally, he said, "Metalbeard!"

"Aye Emmet?"

"Grab the Space Dart and get Benny out of here. You guys can take his spaceship. We'll hold these things off and catch up with you at the meeting place." He looked over his shoulder at his blue-clad friend. "And Benny?"

Benny frowned. He really didn't like the idea of leaving everyone behind, but he wasn't going to argue. "Yeah Emmet?"

"Do you mind if I use your house?"

He hesitated, but said, "Go ahead..."

Emmet smirked and sprang into action. He tore off entire chunks of the townhouse and combined the simple red and blue bricks with the complex pieces of every Micromanager he could get his hands on until he had a long, many-legged, robot-house-dragon. He even used the windows and doors, and stuck a bush on the beast's head.

It came to life with a terrible roar.

Emmet continued to wreak havoc on his own while his creation took to the sky. It tore apart any enemy it could get it's multiple claws on, and set fire to many others.

Even so, their numbers didn't appear to be decreasing.

While this was going on, Metalbeard picked up the Space Dart I with Benny and Unikitty still on it. He ran to Benny's spaceship and jumped onto the back, holding out the Set so his friends could hop into the cockpit. He then tucked it under his arm and secured himself. As Benny prepared to take off, one of the Micromanagers managed to slip out of the main fight and charge it's lasers. Metalbeard fired at it, but it dodged.

Just as it was about to blast them, Wonder Woman grabbed it by the arms and spun it violently, letting it go so that it exploded against the edge of the cliff.

"Wow!" said Benny. He didn't see Unikitty smirk at him.

Wonder Woman landed on the wing and yelled, "Take off already!"

"On it!"

The spaceship lifted into the air just as a second wave of Micromanagers reached the Ridge. Instead of leaving like he was supposed to, Benny swooped in and started blasting, trying to take out as many as he could before they reached the others. He made several passes, Unikitty cheering next to him, until Wonder Woman finally spoke up.

"This is great and all, but aren't we supposed to be leaving?"

He gave her an acknowledging glance, but continued to fire. There were too many. His friends would be overwhelmed if he left now.

Wonder Woman dove into the cockpit and put a hand on his shoulder. "It's okay. They're after you. They'll leave if you leave. Besides, that Space Dart thing is supposed to be the key to saving the Universe, and you're the only one who knows anything about it. If they get either of you, we're done."

"Aye." Metalbeard spoke up from his spot clinging to the back. "She has a point, me hearty."

Benny sighed and said, "Alright... you hold on back there, Metalbeard."

The robot-pirate grumbled and increased his grip. Benny was usually good for not throwing off his passengers, but when he said to hold on, you'd better cling for dear life.

He flew over the edge of the Ridge and sure enough, a little more then half the Micromanagers followed. Making note of this, Benny put on his rare serious face and did a nose dive.

Unikitty knew to brace herself, but Wonder Woman was nearly thrown back. Her eyes widened. The ocean was getting really close, _really _fast.

Benny pulled up at the last possible second, and the spaceship actually skipped a couple of times on the water. Looking back, quite a few of the robots didn't make it and crashed against the surface.

Wonder Woman's heart was still in her throat, but she gave him an appreciative smile. "Not bad, Space Guy."

He smiled back and said, "Thanks, and you really _can_ call me Benny, you know."

"Uh... yeah..."

The cat was glaring at her for some reason.

"What?"

Unikitty looked away. "Nothin'."

The spaceship lurched to a stop. They had gotten well ahead of the swarm of robots from the Ridge, but a second swarm had headed them off.

"Where is that Goat-Man getting all of these?" asked Wonder Woman.

Unikitty nervously turned to Benny. "Please, please, _please _don't do any barrel rolls."

"Agreed!" said Metalbeard.

Benny frowned. "I can't make any promises. Sorry, guys."

He activated the thrusters and made to plough into the swarm, blasters firing wildly, but as he reached them, he pulled up. They followed and quickly overwhelmed the ship.

Benny was still firing and trying to manoeuvre out of the cloud of robots, and unfortunately Metalbeard couldn't do much to help without dropping the Space Dart. Wonder Woman was about to get out and try to drive them off, but they started thinning on their own.

Whirring sirens and flashing red and blue lights filled the air as the entire Bricksburg Police force came to the rescue.

Benny had to do a couple of barrel rolls to shake off the last of the Micromanagers, saying, "Sorry! I'm sorry!" while he did.

When he levelled out, he spotted Bad Cop's flying cruiser hovering nearby. He waved vigorously, and Bad Cop switched to his long restored Good side to wave back.

He pulled out a megaphone and used it to say, "We noticed these Micromanagers coming out of the landfill, and they seem to be up to no good."

"They be after the First Set!" Metalbeard shouted back. He held up the Space Dart to emphasize his point.

"Oh goodie, you found it! You had better get out of here then. We'll handle this." He waved again before switching back to Bad Cop and charging off.

Those in the spaceship watched the battle for a couple of seconds before Wonder Woman said, "We'd better listen to him."

Benny turned the ship around and headed for Cloud Cuckoo Land.

* * *

Once they arrived at the Dog, there wasn't much to do but wait and hope everyone else was okay.

Benny had Metalbeard set the Space Dart down in the middle of the large space and they were looking it over, cleaning it up here and there and fine tuning it.

Wonder Woman watched for a bit and then wandered outside, where she stared at the sky. She didn't like this siting around and had half a mind to take her Invisible Jet and go back to the Ridge. A tingle on the back of her neck told her she was being watched.

She turned around to find the pink cat staring at her.

"Can I help you?" she asked awkwardly. She never knew what to make of the self titled Princess of Cloud Cuckoo land.

Unikitty smiled sweetly. "Is it true? Are you _really _a Princess too?"

Wonder Woman froze in shock. "Who told you _that?!"_

"Oh... Batman mentioned it once," the cat answered casually.

"He _did, _did he?" She looked away angrily as she plotted how to get revenge on him. Painting the Batcave in pastels would probably do it.

"It's true though, right?"

She blinked out of her morbid, colourful thoughts. She didn't really have a reason to lie, or hide it. She just didn't like to broadcast it. "Yes," she said, finally.

She must have made the cat's day, because it started sprouting stars and sparkles.

"Yay!" yelled Unikitty. "That means I'm not the only Princess in the group anymore! Ooh! Ooh! We can be PFFs!"

Wonder Woman's eye was twitching. It was doing that a lot lately. Then her brain caught on to one niggling little detail. "Wait... I'm not a part of you're little team..."

Unikitty stopped bouncing and giggled at her. "Well of _course _you are, _silly!_ You helped Benny, and fought with us, and _saved_ us... unless..." She stopped and flattened her ears. Her eyes got huge and watery. "Unless... you don't wanna be..."

Ok, so Unikitty was doing a good job of pulling her heart strings. "It's not that I don't want to," she said gently. "It's just that... I already belong to the Justice League." She almost felt bitter as she said it. They weren't much of a League anymore.

"So does Batman," Unikitty pointed out. "Look, I know what people think, but we're not some big, important team, or super secret society or anything." She snorted. "We can't even decide on what to call ourselves. We're nothing but a bunch of friends who like to hang out together and happen to save the Universe sometimes, and I'd like _you_ to be one of those friends. I think we all would." _Especially Benny, _she added in her head.

Wonder Woman found herself smiling. "That... sounds pretty awesome."

Unikitty lit up like a little girl's birthday cake. "Yay!" She bounced around wildly until Wonder Woman grew concerned she might _actually _explode with happiness.

She suddenly stopped, and gasped dramatically.

"What?! What is it?!" Wonder Woman was looking around for danger.

"BATMAN'S BACK!" Unikitty sprinted off to where the Batwing was landing on a cloud.

She was loud enough that Benny and Metalbeard heard her and came running outside. "Oh thank Gosh," said Benny as they followed Unikitty.

As Batman exited the Batwing, he was surrounded by babbling cat.

"Areyouokay?You'renothurtareyou?Isanythingbroken?Areyou-"

Batman put his hand out. "Stop."

Unikitty froze.

"I'm fine."

She let out the air she'd been holding. "Oh good! I... _we _were so worried about you guys."

"It was fine, Unikitty." Lucy cut in to rescue her ex-boyfriend. "Most of the Micromanagers took off after _you."_

"Oh, that's right," said the cat. "They almost got us too, but then Bad-Cop showed up with the police force."

"Glad to see they're off their metal butts and doing their jobs," grumbled Business.

When the others caught up, Benny immediately noticed something was missing. "Where's... where's Emmet?" he asked tentatively. He was terrified of the answer.

"Hey, yeah!" Unikitty looked around, hoping the construction worker would pop out of nowhere.

Lucy and Business snickered, while Batman shuddered. "He's... on his way," said the Dark Night.

Benny scrunched his face up. "What's that supposed to... HOLY GAS GIANTS!

A huge, red, blue, and black monstrosity was swimming serpent-like through the air towards them, Emmet riding on its back. "Ok, now take it nice and slow... slower... _slower... pull up!"_

The creature crashed into the ground only a couple of inches from the Batwing, and Emmet was thrown several feet away.

Lucy went to help him up. "You okay, Babe?"

"Yeah." He scratched the back of his head, sheepishly. "I think we need to work on its landings."

Benny was gaping at the... _thing_ as it picked itself up with it's dozen or so black, bendy legs and shook itself off. "Is that my _house?"_ He had forgotten he let Emmet build with it.

"Yep," said the construction worker as he walked over. "I brought it for you."

The dragon-house regarded them all with it's glowing, red robot-eyes. _"I am Townhouse 322-2." _It's mouth didn't move. Instead it's eyes lit up as it spoke in the high, stilted voice of a Micromanager.

"It's still a dragon, though. Sorry about that." Emmet patted Benny on the back.

The dragon called Townhouse turned it's head this way and that. _"What are these colourful bands in the sky?"_

"You mean the rainbows?" Unikitty asked cautiously.

_"Rainbows?"_ It's eyes turned blue. _"I LOVE THEM!"_

As it flew off to check out the rainbows of Cloud Cuckoo Land, Benny watched it go with a befuddled frown. "That house was from the 60s..."

Emmet cringed and sucked on his teeth. "Again... sorry. I can... put it back the way it was if you want."

But Benny shook his head. "No. I think it's a _person _now."

"Sorry..."

"It's alright." Benny smiled at him. He really did look okay with it. "I don't think I can go back to Retro Ridge, anyways."


	7. Chapter 7

**Thanks again to everyone who's reviewed. This is getting a way better reception then I expected.**

* * *

They gathered in the Dog, and Benny watched nervously as Emmet and Lucy examined the Space Dart I. Lucy was trying a couple of the weird mental tricks that Vitruvius had taught her. Emmet just poked at it.

"I got nothing," Emmet finally said.

Lucy shrugged. "Same here."

They turned to The Space Guy. "Hey Benny? I think we need to take this thing apart. The key might be inside of it, I guess?"

Benny grimaced, and then tried to smile as he said, "That's... that's cool..."

"Really?"

He nodded, more determined now. "Yeah. I've put it back together so many times now, I could probably do it with my eyes closed." He moved forward to help.

As they took pieces off, he carefully arranged them by type. When he removed the broken, grey antenna piece, President Business gave it a disgusted look.

"You know, I could find a replacement for that," he offered.

Benny hugged the piece to his chest. "No. That's okay."

Only after Business shrugged and moved on did he put it down.

It didn't take them long to have the Set disassembled, but it left them scratching their heads. There was nothing; no notes, no mysterious pieces, not even a literal key.

"I don't get it," said Emmet. "Benny, you're _sure_ this the First Set?"

"Positive." Benny started putting the pieces back together, not with his usual gusto, but slowly and carefully. "I'm sorry... I don't know what else to tell you."

Everyone sagged in disappointment, except for Benny, who continued building, and Emmet, who watched with his hand on his chin. There was a connection here. He could see it. Both Benny and the Set were in similar conditions; slightly damaged and worn. Also normally, when Benny made a spaceship, he would use it for awhile and then discard it in favour of building a new one. This one he had kept safe and hidden, possibly for years, and he was showing it so much care now.

It clicked in Emmet's brain. The only problem was how to get his friend to explain. Benny was clearly still scared that everyone would turn on him, and as silly as this idea seemed on the surface, Emmet knew exactly where he was coming from. Emmet had his own things he kept to himself, for the same reason.

He was afraid everyone would think he was crazy.

But right now, they _needed_ to know what was in Benny's head.

"This thing means a lot to you, doesn't it?" said Emmet.

Benny didn't stop working. "Yeah..."

"It seems like you've got a connection to it," he tried. "Can you explain to me what that is? It might be important."

Benny paused, but didn't say anything.

With a frustrated grunt, Emmet scratched his head. "Come on, Benny. We're your _friends. _We're not going to think you're crazy."

"Promise...?"

"Huh?"

Benny rounded on them, his eyes wide and sadder then they had ever seen. "I know... I _know_ you guys are my friends, and I'm sorry I'm being such a coward..."

"Benny, no..." Unikitty started to say, but he wasn't finished.

"It's just that, the last time I told this stuff to anyone, I thought _they_ were my friends too, but instead I ended up a laughing stock. And the worst part is, I can't blame them..."

Emmet thought about this, and then smiled. "Alright! I promise."

Benny was startled at being cut off from his sad rant like that, and he stared at Emmet in amazement.

The construction worker put his hand over his heart and said, "I, Emmet Brickowski, solemnly swear that I will never think of Benny the Space Guy as crazy, insane, cuckoo, bonkers, nuts, nanners, or... anything else along those lines."

He said it with such pomp that it broke the tension of the situation.

Benny was finally smiling. His eyes were tearing up as he tried not to laugh, and everyone else was sniggering or chuckling.

They started giving their own affirmations; even Batman, who grumbled, "Yeah... sure, he's not crazy... whatever..."

Wonder Woman was really surprised to hear that as she made a more serious promise of her own.

"I already promised!" said Unikitty.

Benny wiped his eyes and said, "Thanks, guys." He took a deep breath. Though he was smiling and he felt much better, he was still nervous. "Okay..." He took another breath, this one as deep as he could get it.

"TheUniverseismadeofLegowhicharetheseplastictoysthatcomeinSetsandarethistinypartofagiantworldthatexistsonadifferentplainandtheManUpstairsis-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Emmet chuckled and gripped Benny's shoulders to stop him. He was talking so fast they couldn't understand any of it. "You've gotta slow down, buddy. Let's just start with the Space Dart."

_"Okay..." _Benny gasped. "What do... you wanna know?"

Emmet thought about it and repeated his question from earlier. "How are you connected to it?"

Benny paused as he weighed his answer. "The Space Dart I," he started slowly, "well... it's... it's how I got here."

It was such a simple statement that had the strangest possible meanings. Emmet frowned as he pondered it. "So... you came from outer space?"

Benny started choking and was suddenly laughing uncontrollably. He fell back against the Space Dart and leaned on it as he couldn't support himself anymore.

Lucy, Business, and Batman exchanged glances. They were worried Benny might have finally snapped, but they weren't going to say anything due to the promise they made a moment before.

Emmet, on the other hand, was put out. "Geez... I know it sounded stupid, but it's not _that _bad."

"No... no... it's not that." Benny gulped and tried to calm down. "I just... I _wish_ I was from Space. I really do."

Wonder Woman decided to join the conversation. She might not know him as well as the others, but she didn't like the air of desperation his laugh had, and she wanted to get this over with quickly, for his sake. "Then what do you mean?"

He calmed down completely, and his smile faded. "You know the Sets? Those big boxes on the Ridge? The Space Dart and I... we came together in one of those."

In her mind it made sense. She had interpreted them as stasis chambers. The others seemed to disagree, and were bombarding him with confusing questions. He was practically cowering, and it was strange; he wasn't frightened at all when facing the Old Ones on the Ridge, and she remembered seeing him fight in the Duplo Wars with a big grin on his face, but now he looked meek and scared, and it was of his own friends.

On instinct, Wonder Woman got between them. "That's enough," she said firmly, her hands on her hips. "This isn't the Third Degree, people."

They had the grace to look sheepish and apologetic. Lucy noticed how uncharacteristically timid Benny looked as he peeked out from behind Wonder Woman. "Oh... oops."

"Sorry Benny," said Unikitty as she beamed at the heroine.

"It's okay." he managed a smile.

Emmet suddenly pushed past Wonder Woman and grabbed his friend. "You came in a box with a Set!"

Startled, Benny said, "Uh... yeah. I just said-"

"Then you a part of it!" Emmet cut him off.

"I guess so..."

"And that Set is the _First _Set!" He was practically throttling Benny now.

Lucy pulled Emmet off of him and said, "This is the second time you've done this today. Please don't turn it into a habit."

Emmet took her hands. "But don't you understand what this means?"

"No... not really." She looked to Benny, who was straightening his helmet. He shrugged.

But President Business had caught on. "Wait! That's brilliant!"

"What be ye talkin' about?" asked Metalbeard. He was bemused that everyone was being louder then him for once.

"It's not the Space jalopy we need, it's Benny!" He pointed at the Space Guy. _"He's_ the key!"

"He is?"

Benny froze. "I am?!"

Even Wonder Woman turned to stare at him. "That... makes sense."

"It does?" he squeaked.

She nodded. "Everything you know, _that_ must be what we need."

Business looked at Emmet and asked, "What was the first part of the Prophecy?"

Emmet rubbed his temples as he tried to remember. His brain had been working overdrive that day, and he was having trouble calling it up.

Lucy rolled her eyes and said, _"'You must discover the truth of the Original Builder.'_ Honestly, it's not that complex."

Emmet looked up, pointed at Benny, and said, "What is the truth of the Original Builder?"

"Uhhhhhh..."

"Perhaps he _be _the Original Builder?" Metalbeard stroked his beard. Everyone was staring at him, open mouthed. "What?"

"Of course!" cried President Business. "It's so obvious!"

"No it's not! 'Cause I'm not!" Benny yelled back.

They all stopped to look at him, but he didn't elaborate.

"You're a Master Builder," Lucy pointed out. _"And _you just said you're part of the First Set. '_Original Builder.'_ There you go."

"Yeah... but no." He fidgeted a little and went on. "I wasn't building anything back then. None of us were. We couldn't even move."

Emmet was looking at him weirdly.

"Then how did anything get built?" asked Lucy. The idea of such a Universe disturbed her.

"Carl," Benny answered simply.

"Carl?" One side of Business' unibrow rose quizzically. "Who the heck is Carl?"

Wonder Woman was pacing, trying to piece everything together on her own. "The Old Ones mentioned a Carl..." she said to herself.

Cautiously, Benny said "He's the Man Upstairs..." He closed one eye, fearful of another onslaught of questions.

Instead, no one knew what to say to that, except for Lucy. "You _know his name?!"_

He shrugged.

"Do you have any idea how long I've trained just to _see _him? And you know his name?"

"Who is he?" Wonder Woman interjected. She was finding it a real struggle to keep these people on track.

"I don't know." Benny tapped his forehead, trying to force his brain to work. He started to float as he spoke. "He's a person... like us, only _HUGE _and... made of this soft... stuff..."

"He's a giant creature like the ones on that box on the Ridge," said Emmet. He spoke in a distant monotone. "He stomps around and picks us up like how we would pick up a brick, and you can't move or talk, and the Universe is just this tiny thing in a room Out There, and he takes things apart and puts them together like they're nothing but... but toys..."

He took a deep breath and looked nervously around at everyone.

"Emmet... what..." Benny fell out of the air. Not only was he not being shot down as a nut job, but now Emmet knew about what was Out There? _"How?"_

Emmet smiled awkwardly and rocked on his heels. "When I fell through the Abyss of Nothingness... that's what I saw. Him and this smaller, more adorable creature. I always thought it was an existential vision or something, but... he's the Original Builder, isn't he?"

"Yep!" Benny's voice was high and frantic. "He _literally_ built the Universe, and you just knew about him all along!"

"I knew that too," said Lucy. She was giving Emmet a sad frown. He had never mentioned this stuff, even to her. "At least the part about the Man Upstairs building the Universe. A lot of Master Builders know about that."

Benny frowned, scrunched his face up, and then relaxed. "That's all I got... a name, and a bunch of stuff everyone already knows. Not much of a key, am I?"

Unikitty knocked her head against his arm. "Why are you beating yourself up like this? It's not like you..."

Everyone was drifting away to talk amongst themselves and Batman, who had spent most of the discussion texting in the stands, looked up and said, "Wait... did someone say we were toys? 'Cause I am _not _a toy."

Wonder Woman stayed by Benny as he sat tiredly on the wing of the Space Dart.

"You did well," said Wonder Woman. "At least now we know _who _we need to find the truth about."

"Thanks." He smiled a real, genuine, not trying to hide his stress smile. "And thanks for sticking up for me."

Unikitty bumped his arm again apologetically and he scratched her ear. "I'm not used to being the centre of attention like that. I'm usually just the guy who builds the spaceships."

The Superhero felt strange watching the two. They seemed like such good friends, and shared a similar enthusiasm and joy. It made her oddly happy and sad at the same time, as she had been missing that from her life for too long.

Unikitty noticed the sombre change in mood. "Oh, Benny! Guess what?"

"Hmm... you found the Cloud Trolls? Lucy and Emmet are getting married? You _got me a spaceship?!"_

She laughed and gave him a shove. _"No_ silly! I spoke to Wonder Woman, and she's going to be part of the team now!"

"Really?" Again with the 'Happiest Person in the Universe' look. "That's great!"

Wonder Woman blushed. She _actually _blushed.

"Isn't it?" said Unikitty. She turned her head slowly and eerily to face the heroine. "You're one of us now! One of us! One of us!" She started bouncing around in front of them. "Gooble gobble! Gooble gobble! One of us!"

Wonder Woman took a frightened step closer to Benny. "If you don't stop that, I'm going to leave!"

In a burst of sparkles, Unikitty said, "Ok! I'm gonna go talk to Batman! Bye!" With that, she zipped away to sit next to the Dark Knight, who was still texting.

Wonder Woman was about to ask what that was about, but she noticed that Benny was shaking. He was laughing, and it wasn't that disturbing, desperate laugh from before. He seemed to be back to normal for the moment.

She smirked. The cat seemed to know what she was doing.

* * *

Townhouse had perched on top of the Dog and was occasionally peeking upside down into the auditorium as it's new friends talked about stuff it didn't understand. It noticed someone approaching.

_"Halt!"_ it said in a slightly deeper voice then normal. _"Intruder detected... wait..." _It's voice went high again. _"Are you an intruder?"_

"No... I'm not."

_"Are you sure? Because I think I am supposed to dismantle you if you are!"_

"I'm really not an intruder!"

Inside the Dog, Emmet and Lucy were standing near the door and recognized the person Townhouse was threatening.

"Oh shoot!" Emmet ran outside waving his arms around. "No, he's telling the truth! No dismantling!"

_"Ok!"_

He came back in supporting a limping and badly singed Bad Cop.

"Aww geez," said President Business as Emmet helped his subordinate sit down. "What happened?"

"There were too many of them. The police force was completely wiped out." He switched to Good Cop. "I managed to slip away to warn you all; it'll only be a matter of time before they find their way here." He changed back to Bad Cop and nearly fell over from exhaustion. Emmet put a hand on his shoulder to steady him.

Everyone was starting to freak out, but Business whistled loudly and yelled, "Hey! No panicking!" He turned to Bad-Cop. "How many Micromanagers would you say there were?"

The Officer ran a tired hand over his face. "Thousands... definitely more then what you threw away."

Business' face grew dark. "So someone's copying _my _designs?"

"We should contact the other Master Builders. They need to know what's going on," said Emmet.

Batman finally got down from his seat and joined the conversation. "I already did that."

"You did?"

He sighed gruffly. _"Yes._ What did you think I was doing with my Batphone this whole time?" He waved his phone at them.

Before anything else could be said, they heard Townhouse outside. _"Enemies detected! Commence dismantling!"_

Everyone ran out on time to watch the house-dragon fly off towards what, at that distance, looked like a giant red and black storm cloud.

"We could barely deal with the ones on TAKOS Tuesday," said Lucy. "What are we going to do?" She looked to Emmet, but he shrugged.

Unikitty was breathing rapidly. "No, no, _no!_ Not again!"

Benny put his hand on her back in an effort to comfort her. "Don't worry," he said. "We'll think of something, like we always do." He looked over his shoulder at the Space Dart I, which was still sitting inside the Dog, and a plan formed in his head.

A simple, _stupid_ plan...


	8. Chapter 8

Benny left Unikitty's side and dashed to the Space Dart. He swirled around it, quickly reattaching the last few pieces, and, leaping over the wing, he landed in the small, one person cockpit. He took a shuddering breath as he took the controls; it had been so long since he'd done this.

"Benny?" Unikitty's eyes were wide as she watched him start his launch sequence.

"I can draw them off," he said. The sequence was already finished and the little craft was floating weightlessly into the air sans gravity.

"Benny wait!"

Her cry alerted the others. Just as Benny activated the rocket boosters, Wonder Woman lassoed the Space Dart and planted her feet, stopping him with a sharp jerk.

President Business ran over and yelled, "What do you think you're doing?!" He turned to Wonder Woman. "Good catch, by the way."

_"Thanks,"_ she said through gritted teeth.

Benny shut down the thrusters, but didn't land. "If this worked before, it'll work again."

"But _you're _the one we need to save the Universe," said Emmet. "We need to keep you safe."

Benny frowned. "Hiding here isn't gonna to _be_ safe! The Micromanagers'll tear Cloud Cuckoo Land apart to find me!"

"Then we sneak away."

"And they'll _still _tear this place apart! And every other place we go to!" Benny put his hands on the side of the cockpit and stood on his seat. "I can do this! Spaceships are the one thing I'm really good at, and if it's this ship, they'll _never_ be able to catch me. I'll make them follow me and then activate my hyperdrive to get away."

Business arched his unibrow. "That thing doesn't _have_ a hyperdrive! It's a broken old piece of junk!"

He took step back as Benny scowled at him. None of them had ever seen the Space Guy look so close to furious before.

"It's the fastest ship in the Universe," Benny said firmly. "And it's not old. It's Retro."

With a harrumph, Business said, "As President of Everything, I _order_ you to turn that thing off and get down here."

Benny looked to Wonder Woman. He met her eyes with a pleading expression. "Please. Let go."

She blinked and looked away as she weighed her options. Letting him go do this was a huge risk, but it could pay off if he knew what he was doing. If the Micromanagers were off on a Universe wide wild goose chase, it would free everyone else up to focus on stopping the Old Ones and figuring out this big 'Truth' about the Man Upstairs.

Meanwhile keeping him here was less risky, but if the Micromanagers swarmed while they were on the ground, it would be nearly impossible to escape. Even if they successfully snuck away, the Machines wouldn't stop or rest till they were found again. If everyone got caught all at once that would be it.

It was a tough decision; a coin flip relying on luck. In the end, she based her choice on the fact that Benny was doing exactly what she would do.

She turned to President Business. "Could you hack those things if you had time?"

He shrugged. "Sure, I guess. The supercomputer at my headquarters could do it."

She nodded and pointed at Batman with her free hand. "Batarang!"

Everyone thought she meant for him to use a Batarang to disable the Space Dart, so it came as a shock when he pulled one out from under his cape and threw it at _her_ instead. She caught it and jumped up to the ship, detaching her lasso as she went.

She fastened herself on the back and said, "Do not make me regret this."

With a huge smile, Benny plunked himself down and took the controls. They were out of there.

"What?! _Wait!" _Business chased them to the edge of the cloud. "I'm... I'm the _President! _When I order you to do something you're SUPPOSED TO DO IT!"

"I think they're gone, PB," said Emmet.

Lucy rounded on the Dark Knight. "What the heck was that?!"

"All my Batarangs have tracking devices," he answered simply. "We'll be able to find them later."

"But, why didn't you stop them?"

He shrugged, and started walking towards his Batwing. "I get what Wonder Woman's thinking."

"And that is?"

"With the blue guy buying us time, we can go to Octan HQ and use the big computer there to reprogram the Micromanagers." He climbed in and activated the craft. "Tracking down their production facility would probably help too."

"Ooh! Ooh!" Good Cop seemed to be feeling better and had his hand raised like he was in a classroom. "They seem to be coming from the Bricksburg landfill, so that's probably where the facility is!"

"Good. I'll check it out."

Unikitty sat down. "But... but what about Benny?" Her eyes were filling with tears. She knew that her friend was risking his life to protect her home, and she didn't want to leave without helping him.

Emmet was the one to go over to her. "I'm sure he'll be fine, Unikitty." He petted her head as she sniffled.

Batman watched this from his seat. He wouldn't call the cat his best friend or anything (though lately she had been talking to him an awful lot), but he didn't like seeing her so upset either. With a growl, he said, "You obviously don't know Wonder Woman very well."

She looked up at him, her eyes a little clearer.

He smirked. "There's no way she's gonna let anything happen to him. We'll just have to catch up to them later."

Unikitty smiled weakly at his attempt to cheer her up.

"I hate to ruin the moment," Metalbeard interrupted, "but either I be daft, or the ground be shakin'"

He was right. The cloud had a low tremor to it that was almost imperceptible at first, but was growing stronger.

"What now?" asked President Business.

"I... I don't know." Unikitty stood and frowned at her feet. "This has never happened before."

Emmet looked around and tried to get a better footing. It was getting hard to stand. "Is it an earthquake?"

"This is a _cloud_," said Unikitty. "There's no earth to quake."

From inside the city there rose a din of cries and screams. The people of Cloud Cuckoo Land were panicking, and suddenly overhead there rose hundreds of little clouds carrying groups of colourful, frightened people. These were a sort of life boat system set up after the first Cloud Cuckoo Land had been destroyed.

"Everyone's leaving?" their princess whimpered.

Lucy brought her hand down in a sharp, angry gesture. "There must be Micromanagers that snuck around and are attacking the city!"

_"I'll destroy them all!" _Unikitty turned red and furious, causing the others to step back from her. She started charging towards the Dog, which was her path to the inner cloud, but as she reached it, there was a crash, and the crunching of thousands of bricks being torn apart at once.

The whole world shook violently, throwing everyone in the air and almost knocking the Batwing over the edge.

"We need to get out of here now!" yelled Batman. He gestured for the others to get in the Batwing. Emmet and Lucy managed to climb onboard just as the bit of cloud gave away and the craft plummeted towards the ocean.

Business, Bad Cop, and Metalbeard stood there staring at the spot where their ticket to escape had been.

"They're gone..." said President Business. He got over it quickly and turned to Metalbeard. "Come on, hurry! Make a... a... plane or something!"

Metalbeard jerked out of his shock. "I make pirate ships, not air ships!"

"Well neither of _us,"_ he indicated himself and Bad Cop, "are Master Builders!"

"I might be able to pilot that," said Bad Cop. He pointed to Benny's spaceship which had been abandoned nearby.

Another massive lurch from the cloud curtailed any arguments and they ran to the ship, but as soon as Bad Cop climbed into the pilot seat, he froze. "Uhhh..."

Business got in behind him and Metalbeard took his usual spot at the back.

"You _can _fly it, right?" said the President.

"Hold on..." Bad Cop cautiously pushed a random button and the ship hummed to life. He pressed another button and it turned off.

"Press that first button again!"

"Hold _on!" _He pushed the first button, and once the ship was started he tried one of the levers. It caused them to lift off, but it just sort of floated a couple feet off the ground.

President Business nearly throttled him. "What, are you stupid?!"

His head swivelled all the way around so he could give his boss one of his patented dangerous glares. "Do you have _any _idea how complicated this thing is?"

"No..."

"Then with all due respect, sir; _lay off."_ He turned back and continued trying to figure out the controls.

On the back of the ship, Metalbeard had other concerns. He had spotted Unikitty just standing there near the Dog, and he started hollering, "ARRR! YE BEST BE GETTIN' YER PINK POSTERIOR OVER HERE!"

Unikitty didn't move. She was frozen as she watched more and more of her world fall away. The Dog was shuddering, bricks and pieces falling off of it as it crumbled and sank, and she was close enough to the edge now that she could see where everything was going.

Where most of Cloud Cuckoo Land had once been, there was now an Abyss; swirling, dark, and all consuming. It was exactly like the one outside the Octan building.

Her eyes filled with tears as her home was swallowed into nothingness, and she didn't even notice the cracks that formed under her feet.

Back at the spaceship, Bad Cop had barely gotten a handle on the controls.

"Hurry _up..." _President Business was watching the spectacle of Unikitty and the collapsing ground as well. When Metalbeard made to jump down and grab her, he said, "Stop! Your weight'll make everything collapse."

"But we can't just watch her fall," the pirate said helplessly.

Suddenly, the Batwing flew up from under the cloud and lurched drunkenly overhead. Oddly, Emmet was at the wheel and was screaming, "Oh my GOSH! I have no idea what I'm doing!"

"Hold it steady!" Lucy yelled back.

She was looking over the edge of the wing to where Batman was already on the ground. He dodged falling debris and widening chasms with ease until he reached Unikitty. Grabbing her around the neck with one hand, he drew his grappling hook with the other and shot it at the Batwing.

Lucy was ready. The hook landed neatly on the wing and started sliding off, so she caught it before it could fall and secured it. As the cloud gave away, Batman started reeling in.

An instant later, he dumped the princess into the back seat. "That was really stupid, cat," he said as he stood over her.

"Go easy on her," Lucy said gently.

Unikitty's eyes were huge and lined with stress, while her pupils were tiny. As she snapped out of whatever dark place she was in, they went back to normal. "Lucy?" She blinked. "Batman?"

Emmet chose that moment to scream, "Why am I _still flying this thing?!"_

"Move!" Batman shoved him into the passenger seat and took the controls. He flew her down and evened out next to the blue spaceship, which Bad-Cop could finally control to some degree.

In the back seat, Unikitty watched as the Abyss faded and vanished. All that remained of her world was empty sky. She blinked the tears away, took a deep breath, and turned to Batman. "Thank you for saving me."

"Don't thank me yet..." He swerved on time to miss a head on collision with a Micromanager.

A pack of the black robots had broken off from the main swarm and surrounded them, taking hold of the two ships with threat to pull them apart.

Batman tried to wrench the Batwing out of their grasp, but it was useless. "Dangit!"

"I thought they were only after Benny," said Emmet.

A very British voice answered, "They are after whomever I tell them to be."

Up floated a horrible hybrid of a Micromanager. It had eight arms, and too many eyes - like a big, black, flying spider - and where a mouth would be there was a cockpit containing a goat headed man.

"You must be the Goat that Wonder Woman was talking about," said Batman.

Billy sneered at the mention of the heroine. "Indeed..."

* * *

As the Space Dart I headed towards the giant cloud of robots, Wonder Woman fiddled with the Batarang until she removed the little red tracking device. She reached forward and wedged it out of sight under Benny's oxygen tanks.

"What's that?" He tried to see what she was doing.

"It's a tracking device," she said. "This way the others will be able to find us."

"Oh, cool." They were getting close now, and the Micromanagers had noticed them. He was still smiling, but there was a serious tone to his voice as he said, "You'd better hold on."

He increased his speed to breathtaking velocity as he hit the black wall of robots, creating a shockwave that cut a tunnel through the swarm

_"By Athena's Spear!"_ yelled Wonder Woman.

They were in the center of the Micromanagers now and the Space Dart was firing wildly and weaving between the robots and their resulting explosions like a tiny grey swallow. By the time Benny emerged back into open sky there was a swath of destruction behind him.

Still, he barely made a dent in them, and they hastened to follow the little craft.

"You okay?" Benny asked over his shoulder.

She barely got out a, "Yeah," before he dove back into the fray.

He was smiling ear to ear as he dodged and weaved, and destroyed everything in his path.

Wonder Woman's eyes widened in alarm. Was he... was he _enjoying _himself?!

But then the thrill caught up to her and she was smiling too. Flying in her jet, blowing stuff up, fighting bad guys, and saving the world... _this _was what she lived for!

They came across a splash of red and had to dodge a fireball. Townhouse was still in one piece, but it was surrounded; dozens of Micromanagers hugging it's body to keep it immobile. Benny made a pass, shooting carefully to remove what robots he could.

That was enough.

With a burst of power and fire, the house-dragon broke free.

They flew out of the swarm together, and ignored the thousands of robots following them for the moment.

"Are you okay?" Benny called out.

It took a moment to answer, but said, _"Damage is minimal. I have dismantled 347 enemies!"_

Wonder Woman laughed. "That's great, only I think there's still several thousand to go!"

"We've got this under control," said Benny. "You should go back and help the others."

_"Ok!"_ It turned to head back to Cloud Cuckoo Land, but suddenly cried, _"Noooo! The rainbows ARE GONE!"_

_"What?!" _Benny whipped his head around. Sure enough, the sky where the giant cloud should be was empty. "No..."

"Look out!" Wonder Woman turned his head to the front and he swerved and just missed an enterprising Micromanager that had cut them off.

He was breathing rapidly, and his flying was getting shaky and imprecise.

"Calm down," said Wonder Woman. "You need to focus."

"But... but my friends..."

"Most of them are Master Builders, and they have the Batwing." She kept her voice calm, but she was struggling to believe her own words. "They're fine."

"Ok..." He took a couple more breaths. "Ok..."

He steadied himself and looped around again, leading the swarm east. Townhouse, in the confusion of the moment, decided to stay with them and was still following at the Space Dart's heels.

Wonder Woman looked back at the black cloud and said, "If this thing really has a hyperdrive, I think you should activate it now."

With a nod, Benny reached for a big red button.

Before he could press it, a voice came through the Micromanagers, amplified thousands of times.

"Hello, Ben. Can you hear me?"

The robots backed off, and several of them worked together to project a huge screen. On it, Billy appeared and waved cheerfully before he scowled at the camera

"We should go," said Wonder Woman.

But Benny's gut twisted. Whatever the Fabulander had to say was bad, but he had the feeling it was also important.

"You are proving very difficult to capture," said Billy, "so I thought I'd gather a little... _incentive."_

The camera panned to show the Batwing and the blue spaceship in the grips of dozens of Micromanagers, their passengers grim faced and serious.

"Oh, how nice. All you're little friends are here." The camera panned back to Billy. "Turn yourself over to me, and they go free. Fail to do so, and... well... I'm certain you can guess what will happen."


	9. Chapter 9

Townhouse's eyes turned red. _"COMMENCE DISMANTLING!"_ it roared.

"No stop!" Benny had his hand out towards it.

The house-dragon paused.

"If you attack now, those Micromanagers will tear their ships apart... and none of them can fly..."

Townhouse stared at him for several seconds before it's eyes went back to blue. _"Understood..."_

The Micromanagers continued to back off so that the sky was clear and they could spot the distant cluster of black that was their captured friends. Benny started in that direction, but stopped when he heard his Batphone ringing. He pulled it out and looked at it.

It was Lucy.

He handed it to Wonder Woman and said, "Can you answer this? I... I'm no good with these touch screen things."

She took it and answered. "Hello?"

_"Wonder Woman? Benny?" _came Lucy's voice. _"You need to get out of here now! Don't worry about us!"_

"I'm not gonna do that!" Benny shouted in the general direction of the phone.

_"You have to!"_

There was sound of scuffling and then Unikitty's voice said, _"Benny, please! If you save the Universe, my world will come back right? You... you have to go..."_

Benny was shaking his head. He couldn't do it. Leaving them to fight was one thing, but this was leaving them to _die._

Wonder Woman opened her mouth to say something, but she fell silent. She couldn't tell him to abandon his friends. He would never do it anyways.

_"Projectile approaching at high speed," _said Townhouse.

"Huh?"

There was a sound like a jet, and a sudden explosion amongst the captured ships. This was followed by several flashes of green.

_"It's Superman!"_ cried Unikitty as the phone cut out.

They watched speechless as there was several more explosions and flashes of green. One of these flashes looked suspiciously like a giant fist.

"That's the Green Lantern!" Wonder Woman smiled, relieved. "They must've gotten Batman's texts."

Without a word, Benny took off towards the fight.

"Go ahead and dismantle!" Wonder Woman yelled to the baffled Townhouse.

_"Ok!"_ The dragon roared gleefully and pulled in front of them. It picked out the big, Spider-Manager and called up a furious ball of fire from it's laser lungs.

Billy managed to avoid being roasted, but his eyes were bugging as the red monster soared inches from his nose.

"Are you people _imbeciles?!"_ he growled. "You want to resist? Resist _this!" _He pulled out a green cellphone and beat his hand against it, summoning the Micromanages that had flown away. He screamed as Townhouse latched onto his robot from behind and started chewing the arms off.

Wonder Woman pointed the returning Micromanagers out to Benny. She got off the Space Dart and floated under her own power. "You should go," she said. "I'll stay here and help your friends."

"But... but... but..."

"We'll catch up to you later."

"But... but..."

She smiled and saluted him. "It's been fun, Space Guy."

She flew off and Benny turned to watch the Micromanagers approach. A strong determination settled into his little plastic body. He wasn't usually the one who had ideas or knew stuff or saved everyone, but now he was supposed to be guy who would save the Universe. Emmet didn't back down from that role when it was his time, and Benny wasn't going to either.

He looked around for something... _anything _that he could use to stop the swarm, and his eyes fell on the little blaster still stuck to his hip.

That gave him an idea. He was having a lot of those lately, and they were proving to be dangerous.

* * *

Wonder Woman sped up and put a hole through one of the Micromanagers that was still holding on to the Batwing.

"I got your text." she heard Superman say as he smashed one of the others. "Thought you could use a little help."

Batman rolled his eyes and grumbled, "We coulda gotten outa this on our own..."

_"Sure _you could." Superman smirked.

Wonder Woman whammed the last two robots together and worriedly eyed the swarm. They were going to have a few thousand more to deal with in a moment. "Guys, can we seriously not do this right now?"

"Hey Wonder Woman!" The Green Lantern was suddenly in front of her, almost in her face. "Isn't this great? I'm totally helping Superman save these guys!"

Wonder Woman sighed, exasperated. "Didn't you hear me? This thing we _always_ do, can we just _not_ do it for once?"

He frowned a little disappointed, but didn't stay fazed for long. "We're all here, fighting evil together like we used to! Except... Aquaman and the Flash are still gone... But still! This is Awesome!" He used his ring (which was actually just a green dot painted on his hand) to summon up a pair of huge hammers made of transparent, green bricks and crush the final Micromanager in the area.

Wonder Woman groaned. She knew how this was going to go. They'd poke at each other, and annoy each other until they devolved into arguing, and screwed up, and the stupid villain would get away.

"What's Benny doing?" Emmet broke her train of thought from the front seat of the Batwing.

She looked where he was pointing and saw that the Space Guy had situated himself between everyone and the rapidly approaching robots. "I told him to leave!" she yelled, frustrated.

Benny got out of the Space Dart and in seconds had re-formed the little ship into a comically large Space Laser. He took the handles he had turned the grey prongs into, pointed it at the Micromanagers and activated the hyperdrive.

Wonder Woman knew what was going to happen before it did. A pulsing streak of blue light hit the robots, causing every one of them to erupt in a cloud of fire, but at the same time, the force of the weapon caused it, and Benny, to go flying backwards. That's the problem with operating under Space Logic, there's no gravity and no air resistance. If something hits you hard enough, you just keep going indefinitely... or until you hit something else.

Fear flashed across Wonder Woman's face and she flew after him fast enough that she cause a sonic boom.

Benny was aware of his predicament for a couple of seconds. "Guess I shoulda thought of this," he said to himself. He was about to activate his thrusters to slow himself down, but the back of his head connected with the edge of a particularly hard cloud. Immediately after that, he broke though the sky into the next world; Dino Land.

He blacked out, which meant he was no longer weightless.

The Space Dart slipped from his hand and fell into a prehistoric swamp, scaring a herd of Triceratops. Benny kept going a bit further and was about to crash into a forest.

Seconds before impact, Wonder Woman caught him.

She stopped in midair and realized he was like a rag doll in her arms. Worried, she landed under a tree and laid him down.

He groaned, but didn't wake up. At least that meant he was alive. Frantically she looked him over for damage and found a large dent on the back of his helmet, but before she could examine it, she picked up the sound of heavy breathing behind her.

She looked over her shoulder and right into the hungry eyes of a Tyrannosaurus-Rex. There were two more standing behind it.

With a sigh, she stood up and said, "Alright, let's do this."

* * *

Superman watched Wonder Woman leave them in her dust with a puzzled frown on his face. "I didn't know she could fly that fast." He looked to Batman. "And who was that guy?"

"Uhhh... that was Benny," said Batman. He frowned at Unikitty who was shaking with anxiety in the back seat, and Lucy, who was trying to keep her from exploding into a red rage monster.

"I think he just saved our butts," said Emmet as he stared at the the slowly descending ball of fire and robot parts that Benny had caused.

Unikitty couldn't contain it anymore. _"We should go after them!"_ she shouted, her head suddenly huge.

"Calm down." Lucy stroked her back soothingly, causing her to shrink back to normal and curl up into a worried ball.

Bad Cop pulled up with in the blue spaceship so that President Business could enter the conversation. "Um, guys? That Goat-Guy is gone."

They all looked over to where Townhouse was still dismantling the Spider-Manager. The cockpit was empty.

"Where did he go?" asked Emmet.

Metalbeard pulled a spyglass from the chest on his... chest and scanned the sky. "There!" He pointed to a distant object. It was a little red airplane with a blue and grey figure visible on one of the wings.

"I'll take care of the villain," Superman said with his chest puffed out. "You... continue doing what ever it was you were doing."

He took off after the plane, Green Lantern following with a cry of, "Wait Superman! Wait for me!"

The gang watched them go until Emmet said, "Sooo... what now?"

"The plan hasn't changed," Batman answered. He pointed at the group on the spaceship. "You guys go to Octan. They'll make more Micromanagers so you need to find a way to reprogram them. I'll go check out the landfill."

Unikitty whimpered and sniffled behind him.

"Um... I guess someone should go after Wonder Woman and the blue guy too."

Emmet perked up. "I can do that. Hey, Townhouse!" He waved at the dragon, which was still tearing at the remnants of the robot. "You can drop that now. I need your help."

_"Ok..."_ Townhouse slumped in disappointment as it let the Spider-Manager fall into the ocean. It flew over to the Batwing so Emmet could jump on it's back.

Before he did so, he turned to Batman and said, "I need your tracking thingie, right?"

Batman pulled out a black, radar like device and handed it over. "It's a bit complicated. You have to-"

"See ya later alligator!" Emmet jumped onto the dragon's back and they were gone.

As Townhouse flew in the general direction Benny was thrown, Emmet struggled to turn the tracker on. Finally the display lit up, but it didn't do anything. He pressed a few buttons.

Still nothing.

"I don't know how to use this thing..." he said dumbly.

Townhouse tilted its head and peered at him out of one eye with a look that said, _seriously?_

He pounded on the buttons some more and started beating it against his head.

_"I advise against that," _said Townhouse. _"You might damage the device."_

"Now I know how Benny feels."

Sadly the Space Guy would probably have no problem with the tracker. It was only touch screens and voice controls he had trouble with. Emmet sat up with a sudden realization. "You're part robot, right?" he asked the house-dragon.

_"Affirmative."_

Emmet smiled. "If I plug this thing into you, can you use it to scan for Benny?"

_"Who is Benny?"_

He blinked at his creation. That's right... he never did introductions. "Benny's the guy in the blue spacesuit. You uh... you kinda used to be his house."

Townhouse actually managed a worried expression. _"Does that make him my owner?"_

That made Emmet smile weakly. Benny was right; this thing really _was_ a person. "No," he said. "I _guarantee _he doesn't see it like that. You're... whoever you wanna be, I guess."

The dragon faced forward and thought about this. A few seconds later it said, _"If you attach the device to one of my robotic components, I believe I will be able to operate it."_

Emmet found a spot on the back of its head and stuck the tracker to it.

With a shudder, Townhouse's eyes turned red and its optical display was overlapped with a radar grid. _"Scanning for Benny." _A blip appeared beyond the sky, and it spotted a hole straight ahead. _"Benny located!"_

It soared through the hole and into Dino Land, scanning the swamps and forests to relocate the blip.

There was a fight going on in the forest. Trees were being knocked down and birds were getting kicked up into the air. It descended on the area and quickly assessed the situation; there was a Tyrannosaurus laying unconscious on the ground, a second one was thrashing around with a broken jaw, and a third was standing over Wonder Woman, who had taken a defensive stance in front of a prone Benny.

Fire flaring up from its throat, it swooped down and landed on the dinosaur, throwing it back.

The two stared each other down, and they Tyrannosaurus roared it's mightiest roar. Townhouse responded with a robotic bellow and a ball of fire. The dinosaurs that were still on their feet whimpered and ran away.

Emmet jumped off and went to Wonder Woman.

"Am I ever glad to see you!" she said.

"Same here." Emmet smiled, but then noticed the state his friend was in. "What happened? Is he alright?"

"He hit his head." She went over and propped Benny up. "Help me take his helmet off."

Emmet took a step back and gasped. "You... you can't do that!"

"We need to make sure his head isn't cracked."

But Emmet shook his head. "But it's his _helmet!_ I don't even think it _comes _off!"

She rolled her eyes and carefully removed the blue head gear herself, revealing a normal head with brown, spiky hair. She took the hair off as well and turned Benny's head around.

Thankfully there were no cracks, but there was a blue scuff corresponding to where the dent in the helmet was. She gently ran her hand over it.

Emmet peered over her shoulder and hissed through his teeth. "That... looks bad."

She nodded and replaced Benny's hair. "We won't know until he wakes up."

_If he wakes up_...


	10. Chapter 10

**I forgot to mention in the last chapter; Dino Land is a real place in the movie. I noticed it on the Map Lord Business had up when they were talking about how he seperated all the worlds and thought it would be a fun change of scenery.**

* * *

Bad Cop had the spaceship (which he was quickly starting to think of as his) hovering over an empty expanse of ocean. A few hundred yards ahead, the water ended and the Vortex of Nothingness began, and in between that Vortex and the spaceship there was supposed to be a very tall, very imposing building.

From behind him, President Business said, "Well... this is a problem..."

None of them said anything else for a long time. They floated there and stared at the spot where the building was supposed to be, as though if they willed it hard enough it would re-materialize.

_"What are we looking at?"_ said the high, robotic voice of a Micromanager.

The three men turned and nearly jumped out of their skins. Hovering next to them was Townhouse, a speechless Emmet and Wonder Woman, and an unconscious Benny on its back.

"I almost blasted ye scurvy beast," Metalbeard told the house-dragon. He held up his cannon arm to emphasize his point.

Townhouse gave him a confused and worried look. _"Sorry...?"_

"Don't worry about him," said Emmet as he patted the back of the dragon's head. "That's just Metalbeard. He looks scary, but he's really a big salty softie."

Metalbeard leaned in their direction, causing the ship to lurch to that side. "Who're ye callin' soft, ye lily-livered knave!"

Wonder Woman ignored them in favour of the President. "You... wouldn't happen to have another one of those supercomputers stashed away, would you?"

"Nope." Business eyed Benny, who was seated and leaning against The superhero. She had her hands on his shoulders to keep him from falling. "What happened to him?"

"He hit his head."

The President scoffed. "So you couldn't even keep him awake? He better be alright. We need him... and I see you lost the Space thing too. We could've used a weapon like that."

Her jaw dropped and she made an indignant noise in her throat. "I saved his _life!_ I did the best I could, and he's... he's not some MacGuffin!"

"You'll have to excuse him, ma'am." Bad Cop swivelled in his seat and switched to Good Cop. "He gets a mite standoffish when he's upset, but he doesn't mean anything by it."

Business grumbled to himself, his brow furrowed.

"What, he's normally a basket of posies?" she asked wryly. She shifted her gaze. The robot-pirate was staring at her.

"Do ye... have history with the Space feller?" He lifted an eyebrow.

She was caught off guard by the question. "No. I... I don't think I ever said more then two words to him before this morning..." It was a weird realization, how much she was invested in helping this person she had just met, and it wasn't a 'saving the world' thing either.

This day was starting to feel like the longest day of her life.

"I see..." Metalbeard stroked his beard, and then shook his head with a chuckle. Great, first the cat, now the pirate.

"What's so funny?" Wonder Woman asked. She squared her shoulders defensively.

"Nothin' lass... only it warms me heart ta see Benny makin' a new friend so fast." He smiled at her. "See, he usually be shy about these things. Davey Jones knows it took 'im long enough to warm up ta this picaroon." He leaned forward and flicked President Business in the back of the head.

"Ow!" Business swatted at his hand and went back to grumbling like a petulant child.

Her brow rose, and she gave the guy she was holding a dubious look. Shy? _Him?_

But then she thought back to before that awful day in the Dog. He actually wasn't seen very often, to the point that he was almost a myth in some circles, and when he was around, he drifted from group to group, battle to battle, always on the fringe of everything and never saying much. Sure, he was smiling and cheerful, and he would talk a mile-a-minute if you said anything to him, but there was an awkwardness there, almost a fear. No one could call him their friend. No one even knew anything about him.

And then there were the rumours; that he was crazy, that he had _seen_ things, that they had broken his mind. She was ashamed to admit, if even to herself, that she had bought into them. It was part of why she was so suspicious of him that morning.

Suddenly his fears made a terrible sort of sense, and she was so glad she decided to listen and help, rather then write him off.

"Hey. Hey, Wonder Woman? Hey."

She blinked up at Emmet, who was waving a hand in her face. She pushed it away. "Yes?"

"Doesn't the Justice League have a big space station or something?" he asked without missing a beat. "Does it have a computer we could use?"

She shook her head, feeling embarrassed. "The Watchtower is nothing but a concept. We... never got around to building it." The thought about it for a second. The Justice League didn't have a base, but one of its members did. "Batman has a computer in his Batcave."

They all stared at each-other in awe. How had they not thought of that? And now Batman was off on a dangerous mission, expecting them to be able to stop the Micromanagers at any moment.

"Cell phones!" Emmet pulled his out and started dialling Lucy. Metalbeard called Unikitty, and Wonder Woman tried to reach Batman one handed.

After a couple of seconds she said, "It's no good. His phone is off."

"Same here," Metalbeard sighed.

Emmet hung up as well. "We'd better get them before they go charging into a deathtrap." He jumped from Townhouse onto the spaceship and turned to Wonder Woman. "You go ahead to the Batcave and get Benny taken care of. We'll meet you there."

* * *

Luckily Batman doesn't charge anywhere. He sneaks, scopes around, and swoops in... like a bat.

He had converted the Batwing into the Batmobile before leaving the Bricksburg city limits, and as the sun went down he came to a stop a good distance away from the landfill. Right away, the place looked suspicious. It was lit up like the Fourth of July, and there were dark shapes slowly circling it; no doubt Micromanagers patrolling for intruders.

"Remember, this isn't a full on assault," said Batman. "We're here to do some quick reconnaissance and get out. And need I remind you, reconnaissance means _quiet_... also no rainbows or sparkles or flying into a rage."

"Hold on!" Unikitty was rummaging around in the back seat with Lucy's help. Finally she leaned into the front where Batman could see her. She was wearing black from head to toe; even her horn was covered. The only part of her showing was her face, which was partially covered by sleek goggles. "What do you think?"

He stared between her and a snickering Lucy for several seconds before turning away. "Let's go."

They got out of the car in unison and crept along the ruined, barren landscape, Unikitty actually moving catlike for once. Batman dove behind an old ice-cream truck as a searchlight swept over the ground, and they two women followed him just on time. That was definitely a Micromanager that passed overhead.

Lucy started gesturing at Batman, silently telling him they had confirmation enough and they should leave.

He gestured back. They needed more information. They needed to know if this place was just a base or the actual production facility.

Since she couldn't understand them, Unikitty watched the expanse to the edge of the pit for an opening. She saw one and tried to get her friends' attention.

They were having a silent argument by that point.

Unikitty went for it. She dashed from cover to cover, little more then a shadow, until she reached a jutting bit of girder that she could peer around. She gasped.

Below her was a deep and evil looking hodgepodge of machinery and interconnecting metal. There were robots down there; not Robo-Swat or Freds like President Business employed, but shining silver ones in green tunics. They had a mountain of junk bricks that they were turning into Micromanagers.

Overseeing this was an imposing figure. It had it's back to her, so all she could see was a green hood and cape.

"Faster!" It yelled in a deep, rough voice. "They already destroyed the last batch! Now, faster!" He fired a bolt of green energy at one of the robots and it blew up.

At Unikitty's intake of breath, the green-clad villain turned to look in her direction. She hid behind the girder, and bit her lip as she pressed her back into it. After what seemed like forever, she heard the distant sound of a cell phone.

The man's deep voice said, "Yes? What is it?" A pause. "They're almost ready." Another pause. "No... no... _yes..."_ Then he suddenly yelled. "Enough with your puns! Another pun and I will let my robot army use your head as a soccer ball!"

He bellowed with rage, and Unikitty was out of there. She dashed back to where Batman and Lucy were still arguing. _"This is the production facility, and there's a scary, nasty bad guy! Let's go!" _she whispered rapidly. She took off, leading the bemused duo back to the Batwing.

They reached the vehicle, silent, undetected, and scot free... until a brightly lit spaceship descended from the sky and hovered above them. They waved it down and made Bad-Cop turn it off.

Once all was dark again, they turned their eyes towards the landfill and waited with held breath.

Nothing...

None of the patrols had seen that.

"What are you _doing _here?!" Batman growled.

Unikitty jumped onto the front of the ship. "Yeah! There's an evil cape guy and a bunch of green tunic robots and they're building more Micromanagers! You need to go hack them!"

"We can't!" Business yelled as he pounded the side of the ship. Everyone frantically shushed him.

Emmet succeeded by clamping a hand over the President's mouth. _"The Octan building is gone," _Emmet whispered. _"And the only other supercomputer we know of is in _his _Batcave."_ He pointed at Batman.

_"Who told you that?!" _the Dark Night hissed back, but then he answered his own question. _"Wonder Woman..." _Then he noticed that everyone was looking at him expectantly and he shook his head. "Oh _heck_ no! There is no way I am letting you lame-os into my Lair of Battatude."

The stares turned into glares. Lucy had that disappointed look he didn't like, Metalbeard was pounding his fist into his palm, and Unikitty's eyes were getting watery. He almost would have preferred it if she was turning red.

He sighed and said, _"Fine!"_

* * *

Wonder Woman arrived at Wayne Manor well ahead of everyone else, and was relieved to find it still there. She didn't know where the entrance to the Batcave was. The couple of times Batman had brought them there, he was always driving, and he always kept the location of the entrance a secret.

Instead, she had Townhouse land on the front lawn and, supporting Benny with one arm, walked up to the massive double doors. She rang the bell and winced as an ancient, gong-like sound reverberated throughout the looming mansion. It was a disturbingly short amount of time before the door was opened by a distinguished old gentlemen in a suit.

"Hi... Alfred," she said sheepishly, standing outside in the dark with an unconscious person hanging off her arm and a bazaar chimera of a creature behind her. "It's... it's been awhile."

One of the butler's severe eyebrows arched. "Indeed it has." He pointed to the Space Guy. "Is he alright?"

She shifted uncomfortably. "Um... no. That's why I'm here. He needs a doctor... and he's Bruce's friend so-"

"I know," Alfred cut in. "That's Master Benny."

"How..." she gaped at him. "How do you..."

"You'd best come inside." He stepped aside so she could do so.

When Townhouse made to follow her, he stepped in the way. "And who are you?"

The dragon hesitated. _"I am Townhouse 322-2."_

"You're not going to break anything, are you?"

_"No."_

He nodded and opened both doors so that Townhouse could enter. "Welcome to Wayne Manor," he said conversationally. "I'd give you the grand tour, but I don't think you will fit in the halls. My apologies."

_"No apology needed." _It was staring around at the cavernous room, admiring the paintings and the chandelier.

Alfred nodded again, satisfied with the Dragon's manners. "This way Miss Prince." He led Wonder Woman down a dimly lit corridor with a concerned frown on his face. "I am to assume that Master Bruce has involved himself in another dangerous situation?" he asked.

She shrugged. "Honestly? I don't know. His... _our _friends have gone to get him. They're coming back here, so he should be okay."

Alfred sighed in relief. "Right... well, here we are." He opened a door, revealing a large, richly decorated guest room.

Wonder Woman picked Benny up and lay him on the bed. It was impossible to get him to lie flat with the oxygen tanks on his back, but it would have to do. She took his helmet off and placed it on the night stand.

"Perhaps he would be more comfortable in pyjamas?" said Alfred.

She was about to say no, but she realized she had no idea how deep the Goat-Man's connections went, and connections he certainly had. Treating a blue Space Guy in Wayne Manor would be strange enough to mention, and if the doctor said anything to anyone they could have the villain's army knocking at the door by morning. "That's a good idea, and... can you find a change of clothes for me as well? Just in case?"

He wore a wry smile. "Certainly."

* * *

The world was a blanket of fog; heavy, suffocating, and oppressive. Benny couldn't tell where he was, but he seemed to be flying in the Space Dart I.

No... not flying. There was a large, pink hand holding it, swinging it through the air, a young voice saying, "Vrrrrmmmm... Pew! Pew! Pew! Look out, it's an asteroid field!"

Another voice, a woman, called out. "Carl? It's almost time for bed, sweetie. Come say goodnight to everyone."

"K, Mom!"

The Space Dart came to a stop on a windowsill, and the fog finally lifted. At that moment, Benny knew that he was dreaming. He could move, for one thing. Instead of his spacesuit, he was wearing black pyjamas with little yellow Batman symbols on it. Finally, this room didn't exist anymore.

He got out of his ship and looked over the edge of the windowsill. It was a child's bedroom; a faded Star Wars blanket on the bed, worn out, second-hand toys strewn about, glow-in-the-dark stars on the ceiling... all of it achingly familiar.

A clear, white light fell across him and he turned to the window. The moon was shining, half full, only a couple of clouds in the sky.

He went over to it and pressed his hands to the glass, not feeling the frost that formed on them. There was snow on the ground, and all the houses across the street were decorated with multicoloured lights and plastic Santas. This was Christmas 1984; the day of his unboxing.

The beginning.

Benny looked up and his breath caught in his throat. The night sky... not little white bricks stuck to a canvass you could hit if you flew too high, but a moon that could move oceans and a billion, trillion stars, all impossibly far away.

Space... the _real _Universe. Being able to move and make his own choices was amazing, but this had been the trade off, and sometimes he missed it so much it hurt.

There came the thundering of feet and the sound of Carl climbing into bed, but Benny didn't move. He stood there, entranced for what felt like hours, until finally a familiar voice spoke up from behind him. "As a wise man once said, 'Makes you feel pretty small, doesn't it?'"

He looked over his shoulder and smiled. "Hey, Vitruvius."


	11. Chapter 11

**I forgot to mention in the last chapter; Dino Land is a real place in the movie. I noticed it on the Map Lord Business had up when they were talking about how he seperated all the worlds and thought it would be a fun change of scenery.**

* * *

Bad Cop had the spaceship (which he was quickly starting to think of as his) hovering over an empty expanse of ocean. A few hundred yards ahead, the water ended and the Vortex of Nothingness began, and in between that Vortex and the spaceship there was supposed to be a very tall, very imposing building.

From behind him, President Business said, "Well... this is a problem..."

None of them said anything else for a long time. They floated there and stared at the spot where the building was supposed to be, as though if they willed it hard enough it would re-materialize.

_"What are we looking at?"_ said the high, robotic voice of a Micromanager.

The three men turned and nearly jumped out of their skins. Hovering next to them was Townhouse, a speechless Emmet and Wonder Woman, and an unconscious Benny on its back.

"I almost blasted ye scurvy beast," Metalbeard told the house-dragon. He held up his cannon arm to emphasize his point.

Townhouse gave him a confused and worried look. _"Sorry...?"_

"Don't worry about him," said Emmet as he patted the back of the dragon's head. "That's just Metalbeard. He looks scary, but he's really a big salty softie."

Metalbeard leaned in their direction, causing the ship to lurch to that side. "Who're ye callin' soft, ye lily-livered knave!"

Wonder Woman ignored them in favour of the President. "You... wouldn't happen to have another one of those supercomputers stashed away, would you?"

"Nope." Business eyed Benny, who was seated and leaning against The superhero. She had her hands on his shoulders to keep him from falling. "What happened to him?"

"He hit his head."

The President scoffed. "So you couldn't even keep him awake? He better be alright. We need him... and I see you lost the Space thing too. We could've used a weapon like that."

Her jaw dropped and she made an indignant noise in her throat. "I saved his _life!_ I did the best I could, and he's... he's not some MacGuffin!"

"You'll have to excuse him, ma'am." Bad Cop swivelled in his seat and switched to Good Cop. "He gets a mite standoffish when he's upset, but he doesn't mean anything by it."

Business grumbled to himself, his brow furrowed.

"What, he's normally a basket of posies?" she asked wryly. She shifted her gaze. The robot-pirate was staring at her.

"Do ye... have history with the Space feller?" He lifted an eyebrow.

She was caught off guard by the question. "No. I... I don't think I ever said more then two words to him before this morning..." It was a weird realization, how much she was invested in helping this person she had just met, and it wasn't a 'saving the world' thing either.

This day was starting to feel like the longest day of her life.

"I see..." Metalbeard stroked his beard, and then shook his head with a chuckle. Great, first the cat, now the pirate.

"What's so funny?" Wonder Woman asked. She squared her shoulders defensively.

"Nothin' lass... only it warms me heart ta see Benny makin' a new friend so fast." He smiled at her. "See, he usually be shy about these things. Davey Jones knows it took 'im long enough to warm up ta this picaroon." He leaned forward and flicked President Business in the back of the head.

"Ow!" Business swatted at his hand and went back to grumbling like a petulant child.

Her brow rose, and she gave the guy she was holding a dubious look. Shy? _Him?_

But then she thought back to before that awful day in the Dog. He actually wasn't seen very often, to the point that he was almost a myth in some circles, and when he was around, he drifted from group to group, battle to battle, always on the fringe of everything and never saying much. Sure, he was smiling and cheerful, and he would talk a mile-a-minute if you said anything to him, but there was an awkwardness there, almost a fear. No one could call him their friend. No one even knew anything about him.

And then there were the rumours; that he was crazy, that he had _seen_ things, that they had broken his mind. She was ashamed to admit, if even to herself, that she had bought into them. It was part of why she was so suspicious of him that morning.

Suddenly his fears made a terrible sort of sense, and she was so glad she decided to listen and help, rather then write him off.

"Hey. Hey, Wonder Woman? Hey."

She blinked up at Emmet, who was waving a hand in her face. She pushed it away. "Yes?"

"Doesn't the Justice League have a big space station or something?" he asked without missing a beat. "Does it have a computer we could use?"

She shook her head, feeling embarrassed. "The Watchtower is nothing but a concept. We... never got around to building it." The thought about it for a second. The Justice League didn't have a base, but one of its members did. "Batman has a computer in his Batcave."

They all stared at each-other in awe. How had they not thought of that? And now Batman was off on a dangerous mission, expecting them to be able to stop the Micromanagers at any moment.

"Cell phones!" Emmet pulled his out and started dialling Lucy. Metalbeard called Unikitty, and Wonder Woman tried to reach Batman one handed.

After a couple of seconds she said, "It's no good. His phone is off."

"Same here," Metalbeard sighed.

Emmet hung up as well. "We'd better get them before they go charging into a deathtrap." He jumped from Townhouse onto the spaceship and turned to Wonder Woman. "You go ahead to the Batcave and get Benny taken care of. We'll meet you there."

* * *

Luckily Batman doesn't charge anywhere. He sneaks, scopes around, and swoops in... like a bat.

He had converted the Batwing into the Batmobile before leaving the Bricksburg city limits, and as the sun went down he came to a stop a good distance away from the landfill. Right away, the place looked suspicious. It was lit up like the Fourth of July, and there were dark shapes slowly circling it; no doubt Micromanagers patrolling for intruders.

"Remember, this isn't a full on assault," said Batman. "We're here to do some quick reconnaissance and get out. And need I remind you, reconnaissance means _quiet_... also no rainbows or sparkles or flying into a rage."

"Hold on!" Unikitty was rummaging around in the back seat with Lucy's help. Finally she leaned into the front where Batman could see her. She was wearing black from head to toe; even her horn was covered. The only part of her showing was her face, which was partially covered by sleek goggles. "What do you think?"

He stared between her and a snickering Lucy for several seconds before turning away. "Let's go."

They got out of the car in unison and crept along the ruined, barren landscape, Unikitty actually moving catlike for once. Batman dove behind an old ice-cream truck as a searchlight swept over the ground, and they two women followed him just on time. That was definitely a Micromanager that passed overhead.

Lucy started gesturing at Batman, silently telling him they had confirmation enough and they should leave.

He gestured back. They needed more information. They needed to know if this place was just a base or the actual production facility.

Since she couldn't understand them, Unikitty watched the expanse to the edge of the pit for an opening. She saw one and tried to get her friends' attention.

They were having a silent argument by that point.

Unikitty went for it. She dashed from cover to cover, little more then a shadow, until she reached a jutting bit of girder that she could peer around. She gasped.

Below her was a deep and evil looking hodgepodge of machinery and interconnecting metal. There were robots down there; not Robo-Swat or Freds like President Business employed, but shining silver ones in green tunics. They had a mountain of junk bricks that they were turning into Micromanagers.

Overseeing this was an imposing figure. It had it's back to her, so all she could see was a green hood and cape.

"Faster!" It yelled in a deep, rough voice. "They already destroyed the last batch! Now, faster!" He fired a bolt of green energy at one of the robots and it blew up.

At Unikitty's intake of breath, the green-clad villain turned to look in her direction. She hid behind the girder, and bit her lip as she pressed her back into it. After what seemed like forever, she heard the distant sound of a cell phone.

The man's deep voice said, "Yes? What is it?" A pause. "They're almost ready." Another pause. "No... no... _yes..."_ Then he suddenly yelled. "Enough with your puns! Another pun and I will let my robot army use your head as a soccer ball!"

He bellowed with rage, and Unikitty was out of there. She dashed back to where Batman and Lucy were still arguing. _"This is the production facility, and there's a scary, nasty bad guy! Let's go!" _she whispered rapidly. She took off, leading the bemused duo back to the Batwing.

They reached the vehicle, silent, undetected, and scot free... until a brightly lit spaceship descended from the sky and hovered above them. They waved it down and made Bad-Cop turn it off.

Once all was dark again, they turned their eyes towards the landfill and waited with held breath.

Nothing...

None of the patrols had seen that.

"What are you _doing _here?!" Batman growled.

Unikitty jumped onto the front of the ship. "Yeah! There's an evil cape guy and a bunch of green tunic robots and they're building more Micromanagers! You need to go hack them!"

"We can't!" Business yelled as he pounded the side of the ship. Everyone frantically shushed him.

Emmet succeeded by clamping a hand over the President's mouth. _"The Octan building is gone," _Emmet whispered. _"And the only other supercomputer we know of is in _his _Batcave."_ He pointed at Batman.

_"Who told you that?!" _the Dark Night hissed back, but then he answered his own question. _"Wonder Woman..." _Then he noticed that everyone was looking at him expectantly and he shook his head. "Oh _heck_ no! There is no way I am letting you lame-os into my Lair of Battatude."

The stares turned into glares. Lucy had that disappointed look he didn't like, Metalbeard was pounding his fist into his palm, and Unikitty's eyes were getting watery. He almost would have preferred it if she was turning red.

He sighed and said, _"Fine!"_

* * *

Wonder Woman arrived at Wayne Manor well ahead of everyone else, and was relieved to find it still there. She didn't know where the entrance to the Batcave was. The couple of times Batman had brought them there, he was always driving, and he always kept the location of the entrance a secret.

Instead, she had Townhouse land on the front lawn and, supporting Benny with one arm, walked up to the massive double doors. She rang the bell and winced as an ancient, gong-like sound reverberated throughout the looming mansion. It was a disturbingly short amount of time before the door was opened by a distinguished old gentlemen in a suit.

"Hi... Alfred," she said sheepishly, standing outside in the dark with an unconscious person hanging off her arm and a bazaar chimera of a creature behind her. "It's... it's been awhile."

One of the butler's severe eyebrows arched. "Indeed it has." He pointed to the Space Guy. "Is he alright?"

She shifted uncomfortably. "Um... no. That's why I'm here. He needs a doctor... and he's Bruce's friend so-"

"I know," Alfred cut in. "That's Master Benny."

"How..." she gaped at him. "How do you..."

"You'd best come inside." He stepped aside so she could do so.

When Townhouse made to follow her, he stepped in the way. "And who are you?"

The dragon hesitated. _"I am Townhouse 322-2."_

"You're not going to break anything, are you?"

_"No."_

He nodded and opened both doors so that Townhouse could enter. "Welcome to Wayne Manor," he said conversationally. "I'd give you the grand tour, but I don't think you will fit in the halls. My apologies."

_"No apology needed." _It was staring around at the cavernous room, admiring the paintings and the chandelier.

Alfred nodded again, satisfied with the Dragon's manners. "This way Miss Prince." He led Wonder Woman down a dimly lit corridor with a concerned frown on his face. "I am to assume that Master Bruce has involved himself in another dangerous situation?" he asked.

She shrugged. "Honestly? I don't know. His... _our _friends have gone to get him. They're coming back here, so he should be okay."

Alfred sighed in relief. "Right... well, here we are." He opened a door, revealing a large, richly decorated guest room.

Wonder Woman picked Benny up and lay him on the bed. It was impossible to get him to lie flat with the oxygen tanks on his back, but it would have to do. She took his helmet off and placed it on the night stand.

"Perhaps he would be more comfortable in pyjamas?" said Alfred.

She was about to say no, but she realized she had no idea how deep the Goat-Man's connections went, and connections he certainly had. Treating a blue Space Guy in Wayne Manor would be strange enough to mention, and if the doctor said anything to anyone they could have the villain's army knocking at the door by morning. "That's a good idea, and... can you find a change of clothes for me as well? Just in case?"

He wore a wry smile. "Certainly."

* * *

The world was a blanket of fog; heavy, suffocating, and oppressive. Benny couldn't tell where he was, but he seemed to be flying in the Space Dart I.

No... not flying. There was a large, pink hand holding it, swinging it through the air, a young voice saying, "Vrrrrmmmm... Pew! Pew! Pew! Look out, it's an asteroid field!"

Another voice, a woman, called out. "Carl? It's almost time for bed, sweetie. Come say goodnight to everyone."

"K, Mom!"

The Space Dart came to a stop on a windowsill, and the fog finally lifted. At that moment, Benny knew that he was dreaming. He could move, for one thing. Instead of his spacesuit, he was wearing black pyjamas with little yellow Batman symbols on it. Finally, this room didn't exist anymore.

He got out of his ship and looked over the edge of the windowsill. It was a child's bedroom; a faded Star Wars blanket on the bed, worn out, second-hand toys strewn about, glow-in-the-dark stars on the ceiling... all of it achingly familiar.

A clear, white light fell across him and he turned to the window. The moon was shining, half full, only a couple of clouds in the sky.

He went over to it and pressed his hands to the glass, not feeling the frost that formed on them. There was snow on the ground, and all the houses across the street were decorated with multicoloured lights and plastic Santas. This was Christmas 1984; the day of his unboxing.

The beginning.

Benny looked up and his breath caught in his throat. The night sky... not little white bricks stuck to a canvass you could hit if you flew too high, but a moon that could move oceans and a billion, trillion stars, all impossibly far away.

Space... the _real _Universe. Being able to move and make his own choices was amazing, but this had been the trade off, and sometimes he missed it so much it hurt.

There came the thundering of feet and the sound of Carl climbing into bed, but Benny didn't move. He stood there, entranced for what felt like hours, until finally a familiar voice spoke up from behind him. "As a wise man once said, 'Makes you feel pretty small, doesn't it?'"

He looked over his shoulder and smiled. "Hey, Vitruvius."


	12. Chapter 12

"I finally managed to hack into the Micromanager network, and then this happened!" President Business waved at the clown on the screens and went back to pounding on the keys, trying to regain control of the computer.

Unikitty scrunched up her face. "The Joker doesn't shoot green energy bolts, does he? 'Cause I'm pretty sure the guy I saw at the landfill shot green energy bolts."

She got a round startled looks for that.

"What is she talking about?" asked Bad Cop.

Batman shrugged. "The looser who's building these things. I think we mentioned him."

"He wears a green cape and a hood, and he has a _deep meanie voice like this._" Unikitty tried to emulate the villain and failed adorably at it.

Wonder Woman frowned. "That... sounds familiar."

"Well _I've _never heard of him," said Batman. "So he's probably some nobody."

Bad Cop groaned, ran a hand over his frustrated face, and turned to the cat. "He had a bunch of silver and green robots, didn't he?"

"Yeah!" Unikitty answered brightly. Then she deflated a little. "How did you know?"

He sighed. "Because unlike these clowns," he waved a hand at Batman and Wonder Woman, eliciting glares from them, "I have to deal with _every_ yahoo in a cape and makeup who decides to attack Bricksburg. This particular one calls himself Dr Doom."

The two Superheroes looked at each other. "He's a Supervillain?" said Batman. He tapped a hand on his chin and then shook his head. "Still never heard of him."

"That's because he's Marvel."

Wonder Woman gasped while Batman yelled, "The Joker's working with a Marvel guy?! That's impossible!"

Everyone else was lost. "I don't get it," said Emmet. "A bad guy's a bad guy. Why wouldn't they team up?"

"He's right." Wonder Woman's eyes were wide and she looked shaken. "The Joker doesn't do robots or computers. He's more into chemical and psychological warfare. It would make sense for him to work with someone who has a different skill set."

"Then he can get Lex Luthor or something!" Batman started pacing. "A DC villain _can't _team up with a Marvel villain; we're like apples and oranges! It's gotta be against some sort of rule!"

President Business actually laughed at that. It was a high and angry sound. "So what... the good guys fight an entire _war_ so they can hang out without borders and do what they want, but the bad guys have to stay in their neat little boxes?"

_"Yes!" _Batman realized what he was saying and stopped. Stoking his temples, he said, "Supervillains are the worst kind of bad guy. They have resources, and armies, and elaborate plots, and the only thing that keeps them manageable is the fact that wehave _our_ little group, and the Marvel guys have _theirs. _If the villains start... _mingling, _I do _not _wanna think about the chaos that would cause! I'd be forced to work with Iron Man!" He shuddered.

"What be wrong with Iron Man?" Metalbeard demanded. "He be an excellent roboticist. Even helped me tune up this ol' hunk 'a junk 'a mine a time or two." He slapped his chest.

"Oh, _please." _Batman rolled his eyes. "His parents are dead, he's a billionaire, _and_ he uses his fortune to build cool crime fighting stuff? The guy's a total ripoff!"

The pirate leaned into Batman's face. "No he ain't! You be a batty, ninja feller, and he be a carouser in mechanical armour!"

"What does that word mean? You saying he's cooler then me?!"

That sparked a loud argument between the two and oddly enough, Townhouse. Soon even Lucy and Bad Cop joined in. President Business shot a few insults at them as he continued to work on the computers.

Benny's hand went to the back of his head again. The pain wasn't lessoning. In fact, the noise of the large group was making it worse. This had to be the first time he _didn't _want to be in a room filled with his boisterous, stubborn friends.

There was something else niggling at him as well. "Why would Supervillains wanna help Billy?"

He said it more to himself, but the others heard him. The argument died off and he was the centre of attention again. He looked around at all the eyes on him. "I mean... Billy wants to end the Universe because he _hates _it, but why would these guys want that? If it ends, they won't be able to do their bad guy stuff anymore."

Batman grunted. It was a legitimate question. "The Joker would do it just to watch the world burn."

"What about the other guy?" asked Emmet.

"Dr Doom?" said Bad Cop. "It's right there in his name."

"Ooooh..."

"There!" President Business stopped moving and stood with his shoulders hunched, leaning on the keys as though he had just completed a gruelling concerto. The clown face was gone from the screens.

"You managed to hack them?" asked Lucy.

"No." The President turned around. There were rings around his eyes and his hands were shaking. _"They_ were hacking _us_. I just barely managed to get them out before they located us."

"You almost gave away the position of my Batcave?!" Batman looked ready to throttle him.

He nodded gravely. "The only reason they're not pounding down the door right now is all the crazy security you've got on this thing. They shouldn't have been able to get as close as they did."

Bad Cop picked up his chair and slammed it on the ground a couple of times. "That would be Doom," he said calmly. "The man's a genius."

"Stop recking my stuff!" Batman yelled as he picked up the chair and put it back in place.

Wonder Woman stepped forward. "We need to stay calm and think about this. I don't know about this Dr Doom, but the Joker is as careful and deliberate as he is insane. He's teamed up with someone he's not supposed to, and he's letting us know. Why? To make us panic." She directed that at Batman. "The only way to fight him is to keep our heads on straight and be aware of his games." She turned to the President. "Now that you know what to expect, do you think you can try again?"

Business frowned. "I wouldn't. Even if I could keep him from breaking in, I don't think I can take control of a network that complex. This isn't the movies here."

She sighed. So it was hopeless then. They would just have to attack the facility and try to destroy as many Micromanagers as possible. If only she hadn't lost the Space Dart...

_"I believe I can help!"_ Townhouse put one of it's many arms in the air.

The President's brow rose. He was interested, but sceptical. "Ok, how?"

The dragon tilted it's head as though it expected him to already know the answer. _"I contain the components of 11 Micromanagers. I was able to connect to their network. I still have clearance."_

He choked and started pointing wildly at Emmet. "What... what have you _done?!"_

"Umm..." Emmet shrugged. "I built a dragon... thingie? You were there."

"But you left it connected to the network?!" He nearly pulled his hair off while Bad Cop and Batman, who were standing next to him, backed away. "You _moron! _This thing could turn on us at any second! They could be watching us through it _right now!"_

The dragon cowered from the angry President, and a dark look crossed Emmet's face. He took a protective stance between the two, but blinked out of his anger when he heard a couple of bricks come loose from the cave ceiling and crack along the wall. He sighed. "Townhouse wouldn't do that, would you, buddy?"

_"I would not!" _It shook it's head vigorously to emphasize it's point. _"I disconnected myself when I came online!"_

Business froze, his surprise jolting him out of his panic. That was not an answer he was expecting. "You did?"

_"Yes!"_

"You sure it wasn't Emmet?"

_"Yes."_

His jaw dropped. A reformed a bunch of Micromanagers like this should still have their programming. Even if they were reprogrammed, they wouldn't have the authority to disconnect themselves from the network, and they wouldn't be able to function without it - as seen when the servers were destroyed on TACOS Tuesday. That could only mean this was something else entirely.

"Why?" he asked in a calculating tone. If it could interpret and answer that question, his suspicions would be confirmed.

Townhouse was quiet for a moment as it processed its answer. Slowly it said, _"I did not like what I was being ordered to do."_

The entire group was left speechless by that.

Benny was the first to say anything. He smirked at Emmet and said, "Told you it's a person."

Emmet chuckled. "I didn't disagree with you." He patted his creation and gave it a proud smile.

Not everyone was so pleased. Metalbeard was staring at the creature with a troubled frown and Lucy placed a trembling hand on Emmet's arm, earning her a concerned look.

Building a robot is one thing, but creating a sentient creature? The only person she had ever known who could do that was Vitruvius... and the Wizard never made anything this large or intelligent.

First the incident on the ridge, and now this? What was happening to her boyfriend?

"What kind of programming did you give it?" President Business asked Emmet.

The construction worker tore his gaze away from Lucy and shrugged. "Programming? I don't know."

Business stared at him. "You don't know... You did _program_ it, didn't you?"

He shrugged again. "I'm no good with that stuff. It just... went together the way I wanted it."

"That's a bunch of baloney..." Business tapped his chin and then pointed at Townhouse. "You... I should be able to access your software wirelessly."

_"I have firewalls..." _Townhouse replied defensively.

"Lower them." He turned around and started typing.

Townhouse wriggled uncomfortably, causing Emmet to frown at it. "You okay?"

_"It tickles!" _It giggled; a strange sound coming from a robot. Then it abruptly stopped.

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me!" said the President.

There on the screen, large and proud in a cascading mess of code, was the words '_be_a_good_person.'_

"What's the big deal?" asked Batman. He was quickly getting bored of this.

Business frowned at him. "It's not an AI..."

"I _told _you that!" snapped Benny. "It's a _person_. This is the third time I've said it!"

"But how could you tell?"

"It said it _loves_ rainbows!"

President Business and Metalbeard gaped at him, the others were confused, and Townhouse was looking around frantically, saying, _"Rainbows? Where?!"_

Batman sighed. "Again, what's the big deal?"

"Abstracts!" said Benny, Business, and Metalbeard at the same time.

Benny knew the others would need more of an explanation. "It's how you tell a robot person from a plain old AI. Watch." He turned to the dragon with a shy, nervous smile. "Um... why _do _you love rainbows?"

Townhouse tilted it's head. _"I... don't know..." _It paused as it though more about it's answer. _"When I came online, everything was fighting and destruction. The rainbows were pretty, colourful... calm. That made me feel good."_

Benny smiled more naturally now. He hadn't been too sure about this creature Emmet had built from his house, but it was turning out to be pretty cool. "That," he said to the others. "An AI can't do that. It would either give a pre-programmed response or get confused."

"Okay..." Wonder Woman smiled, though she was still a little confused herself. "So we have a _person_ who's also a robot and can connect with the Micromanagers. How do we use that to our advantage?"

"Hmm..." The President's brow furrowed as he though about this. "We can't just hook it up to the network 'cause Doom jerk will either hack the..." he looked Townhouse up and down, _"thing, _or fry it."

Emmet took a protective step closer to his creation. "Yeah, let's not do that."

"Ooo! Ooo!" Unikitty bounced up to the computers. "Why don't you give all the Micromanagers the _good_person_ program? That way they won't be a bunch of big meanie-pies anymore!"

Metalbeard swallowed a bout of laughter. "That wouldn't work, lass. It be like Benny said; without the right programming, they'd not understand the concept of good... or person. It'd likely... break... them..." He stared, open mouthed at Benny, who grinned back.

"Oh, that is _insidious!"_ Business knew exactly where this was going and was rubbing his hands together while chuckling evilly.

"Uh... PB?" Emmet frowned. He didn't like that look.

"It's okay," Benny assured him. The Space Guy turned to the President. "Can you do it?"

"Heck yeah, I can!" Business whipped around and started typing. "Make it look like a software update? A cookie, maybe?"

"How are cookies gonna help?" asked Unikitty, looking over his shoulder. She was eager to see if he really had pastries in the computer.

He glared at her and shooed her away. "All of you! Out! Now! You!" He gestured at Townhouse, who was following Emmet. "Big house... robot... thing. You stay!"

It did so without complaint. After all, it had volunteered for this.

Emmet tried to stay with it, but Lucy took his hand and whispered, _"Come here. I want to talk to you."_

"Oh no..."

She rolled her eyes and tugged him to a private corner of the Batcave. With a hand on his cheek, she looked him square in the eyes, letting her concern show. "Are you all right, babe? Because I am _really _worried."

"Oh yeah, I'm fine." He wore a very fake smile.

Lucy scowled. "Emmet?"

"...yes?" His eye twitched as he tried to keep smiling.

"If you're going to lie to your girlfriend, _don't _be so obvious about it."

He sighed and scratched his head. "Yeah... sorry..."

"Emmet, what's wrong?" She took both his hands in hers. "You can talk to me about this stuff, even... even what happened in the Abyss. That's part of what being a couple _is."_

He gave her a weak smile. "I know _that._ And the whole Man Upstairs thing? I really did think that was just a vision... a very _weird _one..." He frowned and shut his eyes. "I... I guess I didn't wantit to be true. I mean... we were nothing but _toys _to them."

Lucy stared at his hands, her lips pulled down and her brow furrowed. "I can't imagine how scary that must have been, and you carried it by yourself for all these years..."

"Benny's carried it for a lot longer." He smiled weakly. He looked over to where the Space Guy, Unikitty, and Wonder Woman were talking. The cat was laughing about something, and Benny gave her a playful shove. "I don't know how he's _not_ crazy..."

"We're not talking about Benny." She drew his gaze back to her. "That isn't all, is it? What happened on the Ridge?"

He shuddered. "I... felt this _pull, _and the next thing I knew I was in front of that old box. Those creatures... that's what it was like. It was proof that what I saw was real. Between that and Benny... I can't deny it anymore." With a sigh, he pressed one of Lucy's hands to his cheek.

She felt trembling. At first she though it was her boyfriend, but then she realized it was the ground. Far above them a flock of bats took wing. "Emmet?" She stepped closer to him, sure another Abyss was going to appear.

It stopped.

Emmet backed away from her, his eyes wide with fear. "It's getting worse..."

"That was you?!"

He shifted uncomfortably and nodded. "Since the Ridge, all this weird stuff's been happening. I made Townhouse and I don't even know _how._ I'm pretty sure I took apart a few Micromanagers without even touching them... and, when I was flying the Batwing, I couldn't figure out the controls, but... it was going where I wanted it anyways... it was freaking me out. Now stuff is moving when I get upset..."

She almost laughed as she reached out and touched his arm. "Emmet, lots of people can move stuff with their minds. _Unikitty_ can do that."

"But what if I can't control it?"

"You _will." _She smirked. "And if you can't, we'll work on it you till you can."

He tried to smile, but ended up with another frown. "What about Townhouse?"

"What about it?"

He grabbed her shoulders. "Lucy, I created _life! _I didn't think _anyone _could do that!"

"Vitruvius could." She released a pensive sigh. "It was only ever small things, like birds, but he could do it. Maybe you're turning into a Wizard like him?" She smiled crookedly. "We might have to get you some robes."

He managed a weak chuckle. "I hope not."

* * *

Wonder Woman wanted to talk to Batman, but as soon as he left the platform, he took up his Iron Man argument with Metalbeard. She had no interest in listening to them, so she followed Benny and Unikitty, who went and stood by Benny's Batspaceship.

"Do you think he really has cookies?" asked the cat.

Benny scratched her ear. "Not the kind you're thinking of."

"So, not chocolate chip. Vanilla then? Peanut butter? Marshmallow!"

He laughed and then quickly tried to stop due to the pain it was causing. "Ow... ha... ow..." he rubbed his forehead as he still chuckled.

She rounded on Wonder Woman. "What do _you _think?"

"I doubt President Business is the cookie sharing type..." the Superhero grumbled. "That would require a personality other then 'worst person ever.'"

Benny smiled at her and said, "He's not _that _bad once you get used to him."

"I'll believe it when I see it." She stared at him for a second, trying to think of something else to say. "So... I've been wondering; is this really the first time you two have seen the Batcave?"

He tilted his head. That was an odd question. "Yes," he said.

She pointed at him. "Then why does Alfred know who you are?"

The Space Guy and the cat princess looked at each other. Even though that wasn't directed at the both of them, Unikitty was the one who answered.

"Movie night!" she said with a burst of sparkles.

Wonder Woman quirked an eyebrow. "Movie night?"

"Yep!" Unikitty giggled. "Every Friday, if nothing's going on, we all get together and watch a movie, or two, or sometimes three!"

"It was Emmet's idea," Benny added.

"And Batman hosts?" She tried not to show her hurt. Sure, she didn't know these people, but she and Batman went way back. Yet they, and the rest of the Justice League never did anything like that.

"We rotate," said the cat. "It goes: Emmet and Lucy's place, Octan Headquarters, the Sea Cow, Cloud Cuckoo Palace, aaand Wayne Manor! The only one who doesn't host is Benny. We know why now," she leaned in conspiratorially and whispered, _"but we used to think he was a Space Hobo."_

Benny froze and his cheeks turned crimson. _"Unikitty!"_ He gaped at her, mortified.

The look on his face made her snort, and though she tried to stop herself, she started cackling.

His frown failed to hide his amusement as he gave her a gentle shove. "Don't say stuff like that!"

Unikitty gasped for breath. Once she calmed down she gave Wonder Woman a toothy grin. "Now that you're part of the group, you have to come too!"

"Oh... uh..." She looked around for an out, but smirked at herself when she realized she didn't want one. "Of course."

Benny wasn't capable of shooting sparkles and stars like his feline friend, but he came pretty close with the way his face lit up. "Really? _Awesome!"_

Unikitty bounced in between them. "What kind of movies do you like?"

* * *

A little more then an hour later, everyone was once again gathered in front of President Business.

"Okay, so... I couldn't find a way to upload that namby pamby command to the network without killing the thing." Business gestured at Townhouse.

There was a round of groans.

"However!" he gleefully cut them off. "I would not be the _insanely_ successful genius that I am I if couldn't find a way around such a little setback."

"Just get on with it," Batman said in a flat tone.

"Kay..." He scowled at the hero, but went right back to his menacing grin. "Get this! Our robot-dragon now produces a wireless local area network that mimics the original Micromanager network and uploads a cookie to anything that connects to it."

"Cookies!" cheered Unikitty.

Emmet raised his hand. "Can we get that again in English please?"

Metalbeard opened his mouth to explain, but Batman cut him off. "He said _English, _ya big tin can."

"I be more English then _ye!" _

The two glared at each other.

Lucy rolled her eyes and said, "Benny? I think you're up."

He jolted. "Oh! Uh... Townhouse gives off Wi-Fi that tricks the Micromanagers into connecting to it, and when they do, it sends them the _good_person _command."

Everyone nodded in comprehension while Business grumbled, "My explanation was more eloquent."

"Stop trying to sound smart, PB." Emmet frowned at him. They didn't have time for this.

"This stuff is the one thing I've got on you people!" the President whined. "Just... give me this, okay?"

"Alright. Go on."

He straightened his suit and cleared his throat. _"Anyways, _I designed the Micromanages to be able to interpret and follow every command they're given, which means they _will _follow this one, and the sheer computation involved in figuring it out will overload their other systems."

Most of them understood this one, but Unikitty still turned to Benny for a better explanation.

He shrugged and said, "Because they're so smart, the Micromanagers'll try to figure out how to be good people and get confused."

"Ooh-kay!"

"Are you done?" Business sniffed and went on. "The only problem is that the fake network is local."

Unikitty turned to Benny again and he grinned. "The Wi-Fi has a short range!"

Business bared his teeth. "But any _Micro_manager that gets _close_ will get _fried."_

"Any Micromanager that gets close will get fried!" Benny was floating now.

"Stop that!"

"Stop that!"

"Okay..." Wonder Woman stepped in and pulled Benny back down to earth because everyone else was either laughing to hard, or steaming. "As amusing as this is, I think he's had enough."

Benny noticed the President's angry red face. "Oops," he said sheepishly. "Sorry about that."

Business closed his eyes and exhaled. "S'ok. I was done anyway."

Still snickering, Batman took the stage. He expertly used his cape to crowd out the President. "So here's the game plan: the dragon's on point. It flies in first and shuts down the Micromanagers. Cat and pirate..."

Unikitty pouted while Metalbeard growled.

"... you two are on demolition. You fly in on the dragon, jump off once it's over the production facility, and destroy anything that looks like it's used to make a robot. I want you to flatten that landfill like it's a... landfill."

He pointed at Business. "You and Bad Cop need to find a quiet route in and hack them internally. I have been told this _"Dr Doom,"" _he attempted air quotes, "has a bunch of Doombots."

Bad Cop nodded.

"We don't know if they'll be effected by you're hippy cookie virus, so you need to find a way to shut them down from the inside. As for me; I'll be taking care of the villains."

His face soften as he looked at his ex-girlfriend. "Wyldstyle... I could really use you on this one."

She cast a quick glance at Emmet, who smiled and shrugged. Brushing her hair out of her eyes, she said, "No problem, Batman."

Benny frowned and looked around at everyone. He couldn't help but notice that a couple of them were left out. "What can_ I _do?"

"You and him," Batman pointed at Emmet, "are staying here."

Both the Space Guy and the construction worker started protesting at the same time.

Batman put a hand up for silence. In a soft, understanding voice he rarely used, he said, "I know you two don't wanna miss big fight, but Benny, the solution to all of this is somewhere in you're Spaced out head." He ignored Benny's dry look and continued. "And Emmet, you're the one guy who has the chops to see this thing through. We need you two to lay low until the bad guys are dealt with. Stay here and figure out whatever it is you need to do, and when we give you the clear, you... well... you save the Universe."

Emmet gulped and Benny struggled with a fresh bout of nausea.

Finally Batman looked Wonder Woman in the eye with a pinched expression. She knew what he wanted to ask of her, but he was afraid of what would happen if he suggested she sit the battle out. With a smirk she said, "Yeah... I got this."

He sagged in relief. "Alright people!" He barked. "We don't have all day here! Let's move out!"

Unikitty gave Benny one of her sort-of-hugs while he clung to her. "Don't worry," she cooed. "We're feeding nice cookies to nasty robots and making them go crazy!" She pulled away from him. "This is the _BEST PLAN EVER!"_


	13. Chapter 13

Unikitty had changed into her new black outfit and goggles. Townhous was carrying her and Metalbeard through the sky, and she rode up near it's head, enjoying the wind. They were getting close to the landfill. The battle would start soon.

"Are you ready to stuff those Micro-meanies full of cookies?" She asked the dragon.

Townhouse nodded. _"I am, pink cat creature."_

"I'm Princess Unikitty!" She frowned at it. "I never introduced myself, did I?"

_"No. I am Townhouse 322-2."_

She giggled. "I know who _you _are." She tilted her head at it. "Say, are you boy or a girl? I'm getting tired of calling you 'it' all the time."

It looked back at her, startled. _"I... I do not know..."_

"Eyes forward, ye great pile 'o shingles!" yelled Metalbeard. "We be almost there!"

Townhouse snapped it's head forward as Unikitty glared at her pirate friend. She leaned in and whispered, _"You don't have to decide right away, but let me know when you do, okay?"_

_"Ok,"_ it failed to whisper back.

Bad Cop, who was flying the blue spaceship alongside them, pulled out his megaphone and said, "This is where we split up. See you on the inside." He switched to Good Cop and waved. "Good luck, everybody!"

They veered away to land in a clear area just outside the landfill.

The Batwing stayed at the Dragon's flank as they descended upon the villainous lair, and Batman yelled, "Look alive people! Here they come!"

A few hundred Micromanagers rose from the pit and started swarming towards them, but as they got close, the black robots paused. Some of them kept moving, but flew right past the invaders, some started punching themselves or their neighbours, and still others simply froze in the air.

"It's working!" Unikitty cheered as they passed through the swarm unscathed.

"We're gonna do a low sweep," said Batman. "You know what to do!"

Unikitty nodded as Metalbeard picked her up and prepared to jump.

The Batwing pulled ahead of Townhouse, guiding it down and then pulling up at the last second. Metalbeard picked a fairly open spot and leapt, landing hard amongst a group of about a dozen Doombots.

The silver robots were busy building Micromanagers as well as automated equipment, but they looked up as a huge mechanical pirate dropped from the sky and started tearing through them. Unikitty turned red under her outfit and attacked the equipment.

This went on for a long time. The singly large room seemed to be a factory floor of sorts, and in order to destroy production, they needed to take out as many Doombots as they could.

Only the silver robots were more much powerful then expected...

They could shoot green electricity like their master, and their punches packed a wallop. Metalbeard could hold his own and easily shrug off the bolts of energy, but he quickly realized the bots he pulled apart were putting themselves back together and there were more pouring into the room.

"This be futile!" he yelled.

Unikitty fended off a couple of the bolts with her magic. Her rage had worn off, she was driven into a corner, and she was starting to stagger.

Metalbeard pushed his way through the enemies and stood in front of his exhausted friend, shielding her.

"Thanks Metalbeard..." she said. "Just give me a second, I'll be okay."

"We be leaving!" He reached a hand behind himself for her to jump into as he knocked three Doombots away.

Unikitty backed away from him defiantly. "We have a job to do!"

The pirate grunted as another wave of electricity hit him. "Aye! And that that be stayin' alive!"

A couple of the Doombots jumped on him and started trying to pull apart his mix-matched components. He flailed to try and get them off, but it was no use. More and more of them piled on.

The rest advanced on Unikitty...

And went still.

"What happened?" She poked one of them with her horn and it fell over. "Are they dead."

Metalbeard was pulling limp robots from his chains and sticking his parts back on. "President Business must've shut em down."

_"Darn tootin!"_ came the President's voice through the facility's P.A. system. _"It's not gonna last long though. Doom's already onto me. You two better hurry."_

"Ok!" Unikitty.

Now that he had a second, Metalbeard took a good look around. The whole place was a slap-shod pile of junk that had been quickly built and supported with girders and random piles of bricks. He was no construction worker, but he had a pretty good idea of what would happen if some of those supports went away.

Unikitty was happily popping apart the prone Doombots with bursts of stars and butterflies.

"Can ye take down those there support beams with ye magic?" He asked her.

"No problemoroonie!" She bounced over to do just that, but he caught her.

"Not here!" he scolded. She would have brought the room down on their head. He carried her over to the door and put her down. "From here."

She hesitated and bit her lip as she looked at the distance between her and her targets. Donning a determined expression, she said, "I can try."

She closed her eyes and dug in her heels as she focused on the power in her horn. It built up, sparking, and spitting, giving off more and more colours until they blended into a bright white light.

The girders in the room were surround with a multicoloured aura as they started to shudder. For a second they didn't move, and then they all simultaneously popped out of place.

Metalbeard grabbed his catty companion and dashed down the hallway as the dam of garbage came down. He stopped at the far end of the hall, staring at the rubble blocking the other end. "And that be our job done."

When he put Unikitty down, she stumbled, cross eyed, a dizzy smile on her face. "Yay... we did it..."

_"Not quite,"_ said the President from a speaker directly above them. _"I can see two more areas on the security cams that have production equipment set up. One's to your left, down the hall. Take the third right. The other one's to the right. You just keep going till you reach the end."_

They could hear Bad Cop's distant voice yell, _"Better wrap it up, sir! We've got clowns!" _followed by mad laughter and crashing sounds.

A high voice cried, _"Not the chair!"_

_"Shoot! Listen, there's nothing else I can do from here. The Doombots'll come back online any minute."_

Unikitty shook herself. "It's okay! We can get it done!"

_"Right... take care of yourselves..." _There was a click, and he was gone.

Unikitty looked at Metalbeard and said, "We need to split up."

"Me thinks that be a bad idea..."

"There's no time!" she barked, her eyes momentarily wild. "I've got at least one more of those big magic bursts in me, and you can go all destructo on the other room. I've got this one! You take that one! Bye!"

She ran off to the right, leaving Metalbeard shaking his head.

At the end of a very long, crooked tunnel, she came to a room that was not as big as the last one. It was darker, as it wasn't open to the air. Several desks filled the space, and on each one there were strange bricks shaped like squared brains: these were black, with red lines covering them in geometric patterns.

Unikitty realized these _were _brains. There were Doombots slumped at the desks, tools still in their hands. This was where they made the processors for the Micromanagers.

Cautiously, she entered the room and looked for a way to destroy it.

There wasn't much. This room had no supports to pull away and seemed more structurally sound.

The Doombots were starting to twitch. She was running out of time.

As a test, she tried her magic on the ceiling, and almost cheered when cracks easily formed along the brickwork. She ran back to the hall and focused her magic.

One of the Doombots had gotten up, and was running towards her when the entire landfill suddenly came down on top of it.

Unikitty was thrown back several feet. She struggled to get up as her eyes filled with stars and the ground did a rolling pitch beneath her. She suddenly felt exhausted. A quick nap in the middle of an enemy's lair seemed like a good idea, so she happily collapsed on the floor and passed out.

A shadow fell across her. It's owner laughed, low and cruel, a mad grin plastered across his face.

* * *

Batman and Lucy snuck through the vent system they had conveniently found, and made their way deep into the facility. There was no one around; no robots, no villains.

Batman pressed himself against a corner and peeked around it. Nothing...

He sighed and whispered, _"I wanted to ask you something."_

_"Okay..." _Lucy said cautiously. They had never really spoken about the end of their relationship, and she was afraid he was going to finally bring it up. _"I don't really think now is the time."_

_"Please... I need to know." _He put his hand up for silence and sighed again. _"How do I deal with a friend who has a crush on me?"_

Her eyes bugged as she choked on her surprised laughter. She coughed. _"What makes you ask that?"_

He gave her a cool stare in answer.

Sniggering, Lucy said, _"Well... do you like her?"_

He quirked an eyebrow as he continued to stare.

_"I'll take that as a no..." _She frowned, suddenly feeling sad for her bubbly, pink friend._ "So... why haven't you shot her down?" _It's what he normally would do.

He checked around the corner again to make sure there still wasn't anyone coming. _"I'm pretty sure she can tear_ _me apart."_

_"She wouldn't," _Lucy scolded. _"But you know that."_

He wouldn't meet her eyes. _"I... don't know how..." _he admitted with a shrug. _"Not without hurting her..."_

Lucy smiled proudly. _"You've really come a long way."_

Anything he could say to that was cut off by a distant howl of rage that came echoing through the vents.

_"It came from this direction," _said Batman as he headed towards the source of the yell.

They hit a few branching paths, but the shouting was getting louder and they were able to easily pick the right route. Eventually they reached a grate and quietly crept up to peer through it.

They were high up, looking into a cavernous lair criss-crossed with tubes and electronics. Down at the bottom, in front of a computer bay that could put the Batcomputer to shame, was a man in a green hood. He angrily pounded on the keyboard while yelling into his cell phone.

"I don't care! If you're clowns did their jobs... dang-it, stop laughing!" He paused what he was doing. "No, I haven't dealt with Batman yet. Isn't he _you're _nemesis? No. What do you mean, _'insurance?'"_

After a short, silent conversation, Lucy kicked out the grate and jumped into the room. She landed in the centre and took quick stock of her surroundings. There were a few places she could use as cover, but oddly no robots or minions. It was just her and the villain.

Dr Doom turned to face her, revealing the metal masked face under his hood. His eyes narrowed behind their rectangular slats. "Ah, so it's the ex-freedom fighter," he said in a low tone. "'You're in over your head, little girl." His held up his hands and they glowed green.

Lucy smirked. "Funny, I was gonna say the same to you."

He fired at her and she dodged easily. Slipping into cover, she quickly threw together a laser and tumbled out to fire back. She flipped around the room never coming close to being hit. In contrast, Dr Doom stood in one place, throwing energy bolts and deflecting the lasers.

"Why are you helping this Billy guy?" Lucy demanded as she darted behind a stack of electronics. She decided to bring up Benny's point. "He's trying to _end _the Universe! You know... the place you're in right _now?!"_

Doom let out a cold, dry laugh. "You think I have a choice? You think _you _have a choice?" He blew up Lucy's cover, forcing her to dodge. "We're just playing out our parts, and I am only here because I'm one of the big bad-guys. _Anyone _could have filled my role."

"That's _insane!_" Lucy frowned as more of her laser fire was deflected. "If you don't want to do this, then stop!"

Doom paused. He said, "This is getting tedious. When are you're friends going to arrive? I've heard so much about the Batman from that clown, and I was hoping to see how well he holds up."

Directly behind him, a rough voice said, "Sorry to keep you waiting."

Dr Doom whipped around just on time to get cold clocked by Batman's fist. He went down like a sack of bricks.

Lucy walked up and stood over him. "What is _with_ this guy?"

"Yeah... don't punch him. I'm pretty sure his face is made of metal." Batman was shaking his hand to try and ease the pain.

Lucy rolled her eyes and was about to say something, but the computer terminal winked on to display an extremely zoomed in, red painted mouth. _"Hello Batman and friend!" _came a high, humour laced voice. _"I was wondering when you'd show up!"_

"Joker!" yelled Batman.

The camera zoomed out to reveal a green haired clown dressed in bright purple, a wicked grin stretched across his face. _"How could you tell?"_

Batman growled. "It's over Joker. You're robots are shut down, and we've already caught your Marvel buddy."

_"Yes, I can see that. It's why I'm calling, in fact." _He went up to the camera and leaned menacingly into the frame. In a deeper voice, he said, _"You're going to bring Dr Doom to the surface, turn him over to me, and let us leave."_

"Why would we..." Lucy started to say, but she stopped when Batman held his hand out for silence.

_"Why would you do that?" _He pulled back and laughed brightly. The shot panned away from him to a very unconscious black-clad cat tied up on the ground amongst a bunch of rubbish.

She shifted a little and murmured, _"No more marshmallows..."_

"Unikitty?!" Lucy was ready to charge the computer screen.

Batman got in front of her. "We'll do what you want," he said calmly.

_"Oh goodie!" _The Joker laughed and clapped his hands. _"You'd better hurry though." _He mock tugged on his lapels. _"I just realized this jacket would look _fetching _with a pink fur trim..." _

* * *

Wonder Woman was pacing the Batcave, feeling more and more on edge as the quiet minutes ticked by. Not knowing what was happening with the others, not knowing what had happened to her fellow Justice Leaguers; it was driving her crazy.

As she muttered to herself and randomly kicked things, Emmet started to get nervous. He looked to Benny, who was sitting on the ground with his back against the Batspaceship. He either didn't notice the Superhero's attitude, or wasn't afraid she would snap.

Not that Emmet though she would hurt them or anything, but he didn't know her very well, and what he did know was that she was _strong._

"Hey. You... okay?" he said cautiously.

She stopped in the act of punching a railing and looked at him, startled. "Oh... uh... sorry..." She sighed. "I don't handle the waiting game very well."

"Then why did you stay?"

She turned towards Benny and back to the construction worker. "Because Batman asked me to. This is far from over, and as strong as you and your friend are, you're going to need help. Not to toot my own horn here, but I have the Gods on my side."

He tilted his head. "Gods? What Gods?"

"The _Greek _Gods?" She frowned at him. "Demeter? Athena? Hermes?"

He shrugged.

"Zeus?"

He tapped his chin. "That's the thunderbolt guy right?"

She groaned and rubbed her temples, but Emmet smiled. "Sounds like it's a good thing we've got you."

She smiled back, appreciating his effort. "Thanks..."

They drifted away from one another after that, each going back to their own worries and musings.

Benny, on the other hand, had taken his helmet out of his backpack and was holding it in his lap. His brow furrowed as he ran his hand over the broken chin-guard. Batman had told him to figure out what he was supposed to do, and he was trying... but it was no use. Nothing was coming to him.

He became aware of Wonder Woman standing nearby, staring at him, and he fought with the urge to put his helmet on and never take it off again.

"How did that happen?" she asked, indicating the break.

At the other end of the Batcave, Emmet went stiff. Unikitty asked that question once and instead of answering, Benny had suffered a full on panic attack.

This time though, he said, "Carl left it on the floor in his bedroom, and his Dad stepped on it."

Both Wonder Woman and Emmet winced; the former because that sounded brutal, and the later because he knew exactly how it felt to be stepped on.

"Geeze," said the Superhero. "It must be terrifying Out There..."

Benny looked up and smiled. "Not really. Back then I wasn't what I am now. It was like... I didn't know _how _to feel pain... or fear. Things were simpler."

Her curiosity was piqued now and he was finally talking, so she said, "The Man Upstairs... what's he like?"

Benny tilted his head a little and half closed one of his eyes as he though about how to answer. "Well... his name is Carl... but you know that already, and he's... big. Bigger then you can imagine... but he's not so different from us. He just loves to build stuff. He always liked to use the instructions, though. He wanted things _exactly_ right... actually kinda makes me think of President Business before he... you know... smartened up."

Emmet opened his mouth to say something, closed it, then opened it again. "What about the smaller creature?"

"What?" Benny cocked an eyebrow at him. _"'Smaller creature?'_ What do you mean? A dog?"

"No. When I went Out There I saw _two_ creatures. I'm pretty sure the big one was the Man Upstairs... I mean... there were stairs, and he came down them. The other one was like him, but small... and the big one called him Finn."

Benny's jaw dropped as he hugged his helmet to his chest and floated to his feet. "That... that must mean he has a kid of his own now..." He took in a shaky breath and smiled despite the moisture in his eyes. "That's _incredible!"_

Wonder Woman shook her head to try and clear it. All this talk of Out There was giving her another headache. "Wait... what do you mean he has a kid _now? _Wasn't this Finn around when you were... you know..."

"No," Benny answered simply.

"Then where did he come from? Did the Man Upstairs build him too?"

"I _think _so..." Benny shrugged. "I don't really know the logistics of it, but the Big People... they start out small and grow slowly over time, and once they're all grown up, they build tiny versions of themselves that grow up and build more tiny people, and it's been repeating like that for... well... forever."

Wonder Woman's mouth was open and Emmet shuddered. "That's _disgusting!"_ he said.

Benny laughed. "It's their way. And they've been around for a heck of a lot longer then we have."

A realization hit Wonder Woman like a cold shower and she reeled. Leaning on the spaceship to keep herself steady, she said, "They're Gods!"

Benny drifted over to her. "Not at all," he said gently. "It's like I said, they're people. They live and die, just like us." He reached out to touch her, but didn't quite work up the nerve.

She had her hand over her mouth. "That's almost worse..." She was suddenly understanding how Batman felt on the Ridge.

Benny sighed and let his hands fall to his sides. He wasn't sure what to say or do to help her. "They're... they're just people..." As he trailed off, his eyes widened and he left the ground. "They change... Emmet!"

The construction worker nearly jumped out of his skin. "What?!"

Benny floated right up to his face. "What was Carl like when you saw him?"

"I don't know..." Emmet leaned back a little. "He was big... he had curly hair..."

"Was there any grey in it? Was he wrinkly?"

"Not really..."

Benny backed off and sagged in relief.

"What was that about?" asked Wonder Woman.

"They get old," said Benny. He went over to his backpack and stuffed his helmet in. "But it hasn't been long enough for him to be super old yet. You have to understand... nothing out there stays the same. It's all about change. That's what a Dark Age is; the whole Universe is being moved from one place to another... change." He paused and stared at the others. They waited for him to continue. They really didn't know how to add to that. "I think that's the Truth we need to find out... _why _this Dark Age is happening."

Emmet felt the weight that had been pounding on him lift. "Okay!" he said with a smile. "How do we do that?"

Benny didn't smile back. In fact, he didn't speak or do anything for a long time. Finally, he said, "I need to see Out There... and the only way I know of is going through the Abyss."

Emmet's eyes bugged and his mouth opened and closed in an imitation of a fish.

"You are _not_ jumping into an Abyss!" yelled Wonder Woman.

"What she said!" added Emmet.

Benny's head swivelled between the two of them. "But... you did..." he pointed at Emmet.

The construction worker face-palmed. "Because it was the only way to save everyone!"

"This is the same thing!"

"No it's _not!"_

The two were getting in each other's faces so Wonder Woman got between them and pushed them away from each other. She took Benny by the shoulders and pinned him against his spaceship. "You are _not_ jumping into an Abyss," she said firmly.

Benny tried to wriggle out of her grasp. "It might be the only way!"

"What good would it do?" Emmet asked from behind the Superhero. "You can't even move Out There there... well... I kinda did, but it wasn't-"

"What do you mean, _'kinda?'"_ Benny went rigid in Wonder Woman's arms as he stared at his friend. "You _can't _move. It's _impossible."_

Emmet shifted uncomfortably, and then frowned as he latched onto a good point. "Then what's the point in going?" he asked smugly.

But Benny didn't hear it. His head was screaming at him with the sound of a thousand pins and his breathing was coming in ragged gasps. "Emmet... you could _move?!" _He sagged; all his weight falling into Wonder Woman's arms.

"What's wrong?" she asked in alarm. She carefully lowered him to the floor and allowed him to curl into her and clutch at her arms.

Benny swallowed and managed to say, "Just my head... I'm... I'm okay..." He relaxed and sat up as the spell passed.

Wonder Woman kept a hand on his shoulder to steady him as Emmet hovered fearfully, worried for his friend.

"You're very brave," she said, "but leaping off a blind ledge isn't going to help anyone. If you can't get back, then everything is lost. You see?"

He nodded weakly. "Then what do I do?" He looked up at Emmet. He was done thinking for now, and Emmet was the better idea guy anyways.

Taking this cue, the construction worker hummed and put a hand over his mouth. His foot started to tap. "What we need is a way to _look _Out There without actually leaving our Universe."

"One of the older Master Builders?" Wonder Woman suggested.

He shook his head. "No... even wizards like Dumbledore and Gandalf can only get glimpses. We need a good long look to really know what's going on."

"The Ridge..." said Benny. He pounded his forehead. "Why didn't I think of it before?"

Wonder Woman pulled his hand away so he wouldn't hurt himself. "You think the Old Ones know something?"

"Probably... but that's not what I mean."

He was about to explain, but was interrupted by an earsplitting bang far above them.

They all looked up to see falling bricks shaken loose from the cave ceiling.

"What was that?" asked Emmet.

It happened again. A great _WHAM!_ Cracks were starting to form.

Benny grabbed his backpack and fished around in it until he pulled out his blaster. Sticking that to his hip, he got up and shouldered the bag.

A third _WHAM! _and a small hole appeared, letting the sun in like a spot light. Down the bright column, a figure descended.

It was hard to make out who it was at first, but as they got closer, the cape, the handsome face, and the blue uniform with the 'S' emblazoned across the chest made it clear.

"Superman!" Wonder Woman felt like she could do a happy dance, she was so relieved. "Are you alright? Where's the Green Lantern?"

He turned to her, a smirk on his face. His eyes were green. "He couldn't make it."

He searched for a moment and his unusually cold gaze fell on Benny. "I don't recognize you. Guess that makes you it..."

His eyes glowed more intensely for a fraction of a second before he fired his heat vision at the Space Guy.


	14. Chapter 14

**I know I've said it before, but big thanks to everyone who's reviewed/fav'ed. This is hands down the best reception I've ever recieved on any of my stories.**

**You guys are awesome!  
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* * *

Wonder Woman reacted before she had time to register what was happening. She was suddenly in the air, Benny in her arms as she stared back and forth between Superman and the charred spot where the Space Guy had just been.

"You tried to kill him!" she gasped.

Superman stared at what he had done with a frown. "Oops... forgot I was supposed to bring him back alive." He slowly turned to her and smiled a smile that would never belong on his face. "Thanks. Now hand him over."

"No." She held Benny tighter and angled herself so that she was between them.

Benny started smacking her arm. "Can't... breathe..." he choked.

"Sorry!" She let up.

Superman tilted his head at them. "He _is_ the Space Guy, right? Disguising him won't work on me. I _am _going to take him, and I'd rather not hurt you."

"There's something wrong with you Supes," she said with a scowl. "You're not yourself."

He threw his arms in the air with a laugh. "I _know!_ It's so liberating! You're gonna love it!"

Her eyes narrowed dangerously. So he was planing to do to her whatever had been done to him? As much as she cared about him, she would sooner pummel him into the ground then let that happen.

She was planning on dropping Benny and charging, but before she could, Superman was hit from behind by a small green explosion. He didn't flinch, but turned slowly to face Emmet, who had crept around behind him and was trying to look inconspicuous.

"What did you throw at me?"

"Just this thing I made," Emmet said sheepishly.

Superman smirked. "I know you. You're the Special." He fired up his heat-vision. _"You_ I can kill."

Emmet managed to dodge the burning ray of power with reflexes that no mere construction worker should possess. It was uncanny; almost as though he _knew_ every move the twisted hero was going to make.

With Superman's back to them, Wonder Woman and Benny could see what Emmet had been trying to hit. There was a black brick on his back that was painted to look like a weird, bio-mechanical slug. It had two green pieces for eyes, and it gave off a faint green glow.

Without missing a beat, Benny drew his blaster. It was awkward to aim because Wonder Woman didn't seem to want to let him go, but he managed it.

The laser blast caused another small, green explosion and nothing else.

Superman looked over his shoulder at them. "Don't do that again. You two wait quietly while I deal with this wannabe." He went back to trying to destroy Emmet.

The hero and the Space Guy looked at each other.

"We've gotta get that thing off him!" they said at the same time.

"Can you float?" asked Wonder Woman.

When Benny nodded, she let him go.

"If this doesn't work, create a distraction," she said.

"If what doesn't-"

She zipped away at top speed and crashed into Superman hard enough to cause a shockwave. It forced him back and she slammed him into the wall. He wasn't going to give her a chance to remove the device, though. He swivelled his head all the way around and used his heat-vision, forcing her to dodge.

His head stayed in place and scowled as his body turned around. "I thought I told you to wait quietly."

"Never!"

They both flew towards the other and clashed in a minor explosion.

Benny watched this for about two seconds and then floated down to the ground next to the Batspaceship. The thing was too big and obvious for them to fly anywhere in, and too slow to outrun Superman. It was useless, so he gave it a tap, causing the entire thing to fall apart in a cascade of bricks. With a large pile to work with, he started building.

Now that Emmet was no longer the centre of attention, he headed for Benny, but before he got there, he heard a ding from the elevator and stopped. The doors opened and Alfred stepped out. The elderly butler looked from the grand battle going on between the two Superheroes to Emmet and asked, "What is going on down here?"

"Superman's got some sorta mind control device on him, and he's trying to kill us!" Emmet answered rapidly.

Alfred frowned. "Well that's a problem."

"I'll say!" Emmet noticed his friend had a small, black spaceship built and was attaching grabby arms to the undercarriage. "Benny, what are you doing?" He went over to help.

Meanwhile, Wonder Woman finally managed to get around behind Superman. She reached for the device, but before she could make contact, it gave off a pulse of green. She felt it cloying up her arm; unfamiliar, cold, and laced with magic. A very persuasive voice in her head whispered, _Care not, do as I say, and I will give you everything you want..._

"NO!" she screamed in return. She tried to pull her hand away.

An instant later, she was thrown backwards, dazed from the strange energy.

Superman was in front of her. He had his hand on her neck, squeezing with just enough force to keep her from breathing. His other hand ran over her hair. "Don't worry, Diana. I won't kill you... not until we've gone at least one date first."

She bared her teeth at him. "When this is over," she choked out, "I am going to find the one who did this to you and _destroy_ them."

"DISTRACTION!"

Superman looked to his left, and Wonder Woman took the moment to kick him as hard as she could in the chin. He was knocked back only a little, but suddenly Benny, riding his latest spaceship, was upon him. The little black creation clamped it's legs around the Man of Steel, hugging him to it.

Superman was staggered from the super-kick to his head, and as soon as the ship touched him he found himself disorientingly weightless. It was enough to keep him from immediately breaking free.

Benny hit a button and jumped off as the ship launched itself out of the hole in the cave.

Wonder Woman watched it go with her mouth open.

"There is no problem that can't be solved with spaceships," Benny said gravely.

She laughed weakly at that and then sighed. "Unfortunately that won't keep him away for long."

"Uh... guys?"

They looked down at Emmet, who was waving at them from the ground. "Maybe we should _run?"_

They drifted down to land next to him and Wonder Woman shook her head. "We can't... not from Superman. He will follow us beyond the end of the Universe if he has to."

"Then what do we do?" asked Benny.

She looked to the side as she thought for a moment and then turned to Alfred. "Does Batman keep any Kryptonite around?"

The butler shook his head. "Unfortunately no. He did have some in the past, but he disposed of it. I believe he feared a villain might steal it from him and use it against master Kent."

She frowned. There was nothing else but to go back to the first plan. "Then we get that thing off him... get him back to normal." She turned to the two Master Builders and Alfred. "When it comes to building stuff, I'm pretty mediocre, but when it comes to battle... I can take anyone." She smiled darkly. "Even Superman."

She rose in the air and looked to the sky where a little ball of fire was fast approaching. "He's coming back. I'll try and wear him down, you guys think of a way to remove a magical mind control device without touching it."

"Wait... m_agical?!"_ Emmet tried to stop her to get more information, but she had already flown up to the hole in the ceiling.

Alfred cleared his throat. "I'm afraid I won't be of much use here, so I shall go prepare a get-away vehicle... just in case." He went to the elevator and left.

Once they were alone, Benny looked Emmet straight in the eye and said, "You can move bricks with your mind."

Emmet stepped back. "Yeah... it's this thing that's been happening since the Ridge."

One of Benny's eyes went half closed and he put a hand on the back of his head. It was aching again... pounding like Vitruvius was in there, hitting Benny's brain with his staff. He forced himself to concentrate. "Can you... can you use it to help Superman?"

"I don't know..." Emmet cringed. "I don't even know what's happening or if I can control it. I'm... I'm _scared,_ Benny."

The Space Guy blinked, several things finally falling into place. "Vitruvius asked me to tell you something." His voice was flat.

The world screamed around them as Superman rammed into Wonder Woman, forcing them both into the ground. Suddenly there was a giant crater in the middle of the Batcave, and the two powerhouses were back in the air, pummelling each other at blinding speeds.

Emmet just barely managed to grab Benny and jump out of the way of the impact. They ran and hid behind the case that Batman kept his suits in. "Vitruvius?! _Why didn't you say anything earlier?"_ Emmet demanded.

Benny hissed in pain and clutched his head. "I don't... exactly have a functioning brain at the moment... and he told me when I was waking up. I couldn't remember..."

Emmet eased him back against the case and tried to keep the urgency out of his voice as he said, "Okay... it's okay... Now, what did he say?"

Benny took several deep breaths. "Nothing you don't already know."

_"Benny..."_ They could hear the battle going on behind them. They didn't have time for this, and Emmet was sorely tempted to shake his addled friend.

The Space Guy closed his eyes and tilted his head back, resting it against the cool metal. Slowly he repeated the old Wizard's exact words. "Everything in the Universe exists inside a single mind, and _you _are its chosen avatar. You must accept that. If you can, all will be yours to control." He sank to the ground and relaxed, letting out a low breath. "The pain is gone." He opened his eyes and looked up at Emmet.

The construction worker was frozen, eyes wide and mouth set in a hard line. He brought his hands up, and stared at them. They were shaking.

Benny stood up and gripped Emmet's shoulders. He tilted his head a little to put his face in his friend's line of sight. "He said something else too."

Emmet's eyes shifted to meet his. "Oh?"

He smiled and spoke in his best imitation of Vitruvius. "Don't be scared, man. You got this."

Eyes tearing up, Emmet let out a tiny laugh. "I got this?" He took in a shuddering breath and let it out. "I got this," he said more firmly.

Benny nodded and stepped back. Turning to look up at the battle that was still raging, he said, "So, now that that's settled... what do we do?"

Silently, Emmet watched as the two Superheroes grappled. Superman clutched Wonder Woman's arms and started spinning faster and faster until he let go and sent her careening into a wall.

The construction worker remembered back to the time when Vitruvius and Lucy entered his mind; to how it felt to simply envision something and have it appear.

With Wonder Woman momentarily out of commission, Superman turned his heat-vision on the Batsuit case, causing it to explode and reveal the two Master Builders standing behind it. He smirked and charged.

"Emmet?!" said Benny, his voice higher then normal.

This was all happening inside a mind; one just like Emmet's... and he was the avatar. It clicked.

Random bricks from the very structure of the cave came undone and formed themselves into a wall blocking Superman's path. It pushed him back several feet before he smashed through it.

He charged again, but a second wall appeared.

This time Emmet held a hand out and brought it down. The wall tilted and then slammed against the ground like a giant fly swatter.

"Woah..." said Benny next to him. "Can you build anything else?"

Superman broke through his temporary prison and flew into the air, a snarl of rage on his face.

Emmet thought about making some creatures to help with the fight, but dismissed the idea when he thought of Townhouse. Creating more life just for battle would be selfish.

Instead he ran forward and remembered the hand of the Man Upstairs; massive, strange, and impossibly strong. A replica of it formed beneath his feet and rose to meet the Man of Steel.

As the hand moved to grab him, Superman made to punch it. Emmet concentrated. The Superhero was plastic; he was made of the same substance as every brick, bit, and person in the Universe. He was special, but for the same reason Emmet was _the _Special... he needed only to _believe._

Now Emmet believed his giant hand was stronger then Superman.

The punch impacted the palm with a shockwave, but didn't put a single brick out of place. The hand closed, and Superman just barely slipped through its fingers.

Wonder Woman pulled herself from the wall and skirted around this strange, slightly disturbing battle to join Benny.

_"What_ is going on?!" She flailed a hand in the direction of the... hand.

Benny shrugged. "It's a Special thing."

"But..." She paused to watch the hand put it's thumb and fore-finger into an 'O' and flick Superman through the ceiling. Emmet raised his arms, and the holes in the Batcave closed up. "He couldn't do that _before!"_

"He didn't accept the nature of the Universe before."

Wonder Woman gaped at him, then dove and grabbed him out of the way as a chunk of rock landed where they had just been standing.

"What the..."

She looked up to find that the ceiling of the cave was cracking apart, and it wasn't Superman's doing. Emmet's hand had pulled bricks from the walls, leaving parts of them too thin to support the cave.

"Oh... this is bad..."

Another massive chunk fell, and this time she stood over Benny and caught it.

Superman got in through one of the new holes and nabbed one of the falling pieces of cave out of the air. He grinned at Emmet, who readied himself to catch it.

Instead Superman's eyes went to where Wonder Woman had tossed her rock aside and was helping Benny to his feet. She wasn't paying attention, so the twisted hero threw the boulder at them with all his strength.

They turned on time to see it almost hit them, but then It burst apart. Ever brick that it was made of hung still in the air like stars in space. Emmet had his hand up, and he pointed at Superman. The bricks swept over to him, surrounding him and encasing him in a substance that Emmet envisioned was harder then the hardest _anything._

Superman was trapped.

Emmet let his giant hand crumble and slid down the loose bricks to run over to his friends. "Are you okay?"

_"Yeah!"_ Benny wore an excited, open mouthed grin. "Emmet, that was _awesome!"_

Emmet smiled, but looked around at the aftermath of the fight. The Batcave couldn't really be called a cave anymore. "Also destructive," he said.

He stared at the stone that contained Superman and frowned. None of this was the hero's fault. He was being mind controlled, and there _had _to be a way to free him, but they would never find it from inside a super dense rock. "I can't leave him in that thing, but you two need to get away first."

Wonder Woman hesitated. She wanted to protest; to say they should leave Superman until after they saved the Universe, but... what if they didn't? She didn't want one of her oldest friends to go out a villain.

"I should be the one to do this," she said instead.

Gently, Emmet asked, "And what if you can't? I was watching, and you two are pretty much evenly matched."

She frowned and opened her mouth to argue, but realized he was right. "Can _you _save him?"

He stared at her for a second and then said, "Yes."

Benny butted in between them, fidgeting worriedly. "Emmet, are you sure?"

"Yeah, Benny." Emmet smiled. "It's like Vitruvius said, 'I got this.' _You _need to worry about doing _you're _thing... whatever that may be." He turned to Wonder Woman. "Keep him safe?"

"Of course." She nodded.

He nodded back and looked to the brick prison. It was shaking and turning red, but Superman was still contained. "Alfred should have a car ready by now. Go with him and lay low. You've got 100 Mississippi."

Benny and Wonder Woman wished him luck and headed out of the cave through the shattered ceiling. Benny stopped several times to look back and wave, to the point that Wonder Woman had to grab his hand and pull him away.

They reached the open air and quickly flew around to the mansion's oversized garage. It was open, and Alfred had a lovely black Benz running. Wonder Woman landed and stopped. "You get in," she said to Benny. "I just need a sec."

He did as she said.

As Alfred held the door for him, the butler asked, "Is master Emmet not coming?"

"No... he's gonna save Superman."

Alfred's brow rose, but he said nothing else as he shut Benny in the car. Moments later, Wonder Woman got in... only she didn't look like Wonder Woman anymore. She looked like a very normal woman wearing a white T-shirt and jeans. She had a khaki satchel slung over her shoulder that contained her Superhero outfit.

Benny's jaw dropped. "You... you changed?"

"We need to lay low."

Alfred got into the driver's seat and asked, "Where too, miss Prince?"

"Out of here as fast as you can go, and then... to Bricksburg, I guess."

"Very good." He slammed the gas and they were speeding up the Wayne Manor driveway.

"Prince?" asked Benny.

Wonder Woman brushed her dark hair out of her eyes. "It's my secret identity. When I'm like this, I'm Diana Prince. We don't know who Wonder Woman is."

He frowned. "Is... is that your name?"

"Kind of..." she said with a small smile. "Technically, my name is Princess Diana of Themyscira."

"Wow..."

She chuckled. "Yeah... you can just call me Diana."

They jolted at the sound of an explosion and peered out the rear window to find that the mansion was nothing but a smoking crater. Superman was streaked by overhead with Emmet close on his heels.

They didn't say anything else for a long time after that.

* * *

The Joker's feed winked away from the computer screen, leaving it blank.

"What do you _mean, _'We'll do what you want?!'" Lucy rounded on Batman. "I know we need to save Unikitty, but we _can't_ let that maniac get away!"

"Story of my life," Batman growled. "We just have to play along until the cat wakes up, and then _she _can deal with him herself."

"Oh..." Lucy blushed. "Right..."

Batman pulled some black rope from his utility belt and started tying up the villain. He then tried to lift the limp body over shoulder and nearly put his back out. "Oooookay... so apparently he's made metal _and _bricks."

Lucy gave the body a kick and staggered back when her foot connected with solid metal body armour. "How are we going to move him?"

As if on cue, Metalbeard burst through the wall. _"Finally!_" he cried, throwing his arms in the air. "I've been lookin' all over fer ye! I got separated from Unikitty and now I can't find her!"

"That's because the Joker has her," said Batman.

The pirate paled and put a hand over his heart as he nearly fell to his knees. "She be okay?"

"For now..." Batman pointed at the trussed up Super-villain. "Meet Dr Doom. He's our ticket to getting her back, and we need you to carry him. If he starts to wake up... slam his head on the ground or something."

Metalbeard went from forlorn to grinning dangerously. "With _pleasure,"_ he said, cracking his knuckles.


End file.
